The Union of Professional Educators has voiced its concern over the upcoming Carnival activities due to take place around the weekend of the 12th of February.

In a statement, the UPE said that the weekend of the 12th is “promising to be another instance where numbers of Covid-19 positive cases are going to rise exponentially, unless the government takes a serious stance with solid restrictions and rigorous enforcement measures in place.”

“There is evidence of large numbers of people planning to go to Gozo during that weekend, and rental farmhouses are already fully booked during that time,” the UPE said.

It stressed that “this is nothing more than a confirmation that people still intend to aggregate for Carnival, just as they had done during the holiday period which has just come to a close.”

Carnival activities have already been cancelled across the island, including the Nadur Carnival.

The union pointed out that “despite the cancellation of mass gatherings, and of organised events, which might bring large numbers of people together, red flags have been raised over the evidence of people nonetheless planning to proceed with celebrations despite persistent reiterations from our Health Authorities to refrain from doing so.”

The union also expressed similar concerns for the Easter holidays, which it said, will very likely mean that people will be gathering despite any cancellation of events which have been, or will be, made.

The UPE, in light of this, urged the government to be “more vigilant and to take all precautionary measures necessary to avoid yet another spike in cases, and to ensure that numbers do not continue rising.”

“The crowds flocking over to Gozo will need to be controlled, stricter restrictions will need to be in place on our islands, and enforcement of these restrictions will need to be more rigid if numbers are to be kept in check,” the union said.

It stated that, “with the current trend of numbers consistently in the vicinity of the 200-case mark on a daily basis, it should be clear by now that the restrictions applied to date have not been sufficiently effective to condone a repeat of what happened in December and January.”

UPE argued that “too much leeway was granted, and way too many took advantage of it to the detriment of others.”

Photo: Alain Salvary

Permalink: Solid restrictions and enforcement needed for Carnival weekend – UPE