The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net’

Restaurant owners yesterday said the government’s promised digital vaccination certificate may have a greater impact on their business than the one-hour curfew reduction by facilitating indoor dining.

Gwendolyn Cleare, co-owner of Nesbitt’s Restaurant & Lounge, told Tribune Business that the prime minister’s decision to push the New Providence curfew’s start back to 11pm will enable her business to remain open one hour longer.

She said: “The additional hour will make a difference. We get to keep our employees on a little longer. Having the additional hour is good, but we are really working towards getting the indoor dining going again. We have good take-out; that has picked up, and then we also have outside dining, but it’s limited seats. It’s really the indoor dining that makes a difference.”

The prime minister, in closing the budget debate in the House of Assembly, pushed the New Providence curfew start back to 11pm. Grand Bahama’s curfew will now start at 12pm, while Abaco’s will be at 11pm and those for Cat Island, North and Central Andros will begin at 10am.

Dr Hubert Minnis added that the COVID-19 PCR test requirement for travel from Grand Bahama, and Cat Island and Andros, has been removed with effect from yesterday while the $10 health travel visa fee for returning Bahamians and residents who are fully vaccinated will be removed as of July 1.

However, the prime minister foreshadowed that the government plans to move away from the Ministry of Health’s yellow card to digital records that prove Bahamians and residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Labelling this the “Digital Vax Pass”, Dr Minnis said: “In the age of technology, a digital vaccination pass is the most convenient solution for many citizens. A digital record minimises fraud, eliminates having to replace lost and damaged yellow immunisation cards, and moves away from paper usage.

“The new Ministry of Health vaccination certificate, which is now called the vaccination pass, will allow users to show their vaccination status on their smart phone. Businesses or government agencies can verify Bahamians’ vaccination status in seconds using the vaccination checker on the website vax.gov.bs.

“The system will generate a Vax Pass after completion of two doses, and users can download the same after login to the system. Users can save the Digital Vax Pass to their mobile device, and it can be presented to the business owner or government agency for verification. It will be saved to their phone wallet for storage,” he added.

“The Vaccination Checker module allows business and government users to check the vaccination details of fully vaccinated individuals by scanning the QR code on the Digital Vax Pass and to verify the details.

“While the QR code scanner can be used on mobile devices with cameras, any business or government user can verify the validity of a Vax Pass by simply entering the code manually to view the status details. If the Vax Pass is invalid, the system will show a message ‘Invalid Vax Pass’ to the business or government agency user.”

Responding to the ‘Vax Pass’ plan, Ms Cleare said: “I feel this is okay. I can go with that. It’s a positive going forward.” And Peter Maury, owner of the Green Parrot and Margaritaville restaurants, said the Digital Vax Pass was what he was “hoping” for.

He added: “We obviously haven’t opened up indoors because nobody wanted to get in any trouble. So the fact that they’re saying that they’re going to allow this is obviously huge for us.

“As far as the vaccinations go, maybe if they allow the vaccinated people to stay open a little longer or allow the business to stay open later it would be good,” said Mr Maury. While concerned about “differentiating” between guests who are vaccinated and those who are not, he added: “That key bar code would definitely help.”

“Obviously the extension of the curfew is a big benefit for us, but everyone is working towards extending the curfew to midnight closing. Those extra couple of hours after dinner makes a big difference in sales,” Mr Maury said. “A lot of our tourists that are coming in are all vaccinated, and when we kick them out at 9pm they don’t see the point and that’s where it hurts in sales.”

Philip Smith, Compass Point’s general manager, said he has to see how the ‘Vax Pass’ operates in practice while agreeing that the curfew’s extension to 11pm is a “move in the right direction”.

Jacques Carlino, owner/operator of the Blue Sail Bar & Grill, said he hopes his restaurant can now stay open until 10pm. “This is all good news once we can find out the exact closing time,” he added.

“We were trying to find out from the COVID-19 police on what time do we have to be out of the restaurant, because now we have to be out by 9pm in order to make the 10pm curfew. So if this means that we can now close at 10pm then this is good news.”