Deputy Police Chief Lincoln Corbette announced that a barber who flouted the stay-at-home order currently effective in Dominica await his day in court. The unnamed barber opened shop and began servicing his customers, cutting their hair for pay when the government warned total lockdown except for those on essential services.
Corbette said the work of the arrested barber is not an essential service, and the man should have simply stayed indoors to help curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the country. He warned that anyone found doing his business publicly as usual will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for endangering other members of the public with coronavirus.
“We continue to receive complaints from the general public that some of these businesses are operating in a clandestine or secret manner,” he said. “When you do so, you are seeking to give the virus a much-needed ride to survive. Adhere to the conditions stipulated in the SRO. If you are not deemed an essential business, you are to remain closed.”
He also warned that people who have been given police authorizations to move from place to place must strictly carry out the essential services for which the authorization had been approved. He stated that anyone found in the streets doing something contrary to which his authorization was approved may either have the document withdrawn or the individual charged to court for infringement.
A state of emergency has been declared for the next 60 days, and the lockdown and associated curfew will expire on May 11 except the government extends it further.
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