Martinique has entered into a tougher lockdown for the next three weeks to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak according to the island’s Prefect.
The new curfew now starts from 7 pm and the new protocols demand that non-essential shops, hotels, and beaches close and clamp down on people’s movements.
According to French media outlet, France21, authorities in Martinique have also advised tourists to leave the island. “We will be entering the second phase of lockdown … shops will close, except for food shops and pharmacies,” according to Stanislas Cazelles, the prefect for Martinique. He encouraged “all vulnerable tourists to leave the territory”.
Hotels and other seasonal rentals are expected to close except for professionals and residents of the territory. “Stores useful for the back-to-school period” will reopen “when the health situation has improved”, the prefect said.
The Prefect said culture and leisure facilities would be closed, including beaches, which will no longer be accessible to the public.
Movement by residents has been restricted to a maximum of one kilometre radius from their homes.
The Prefect, insists that the “strict” protocols will be lifted as soon as the health situation allows with a re-evaluation set for two weeks.
Over 331 people are currently hospitalized for Covid-19 on the island whose population is just over 372,000. 49 people are in intensive care, 11 people have died in the last 48 hours.