St. Croix residents gather on the side of the road of the popular Rainbow Beach in Frederiksted on Sunday, April 26. Photo Credit: VI CONSORTIUM
ST. CROIX — If you had taken a drive to Rainbow Beach in Frederiksted on Sunday afternoon, you would have thought that Governor Albert Bryan had loosened all restrictions on social distancing, and that the coronavirus pandemic — which took a fourth life in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sunday — was a thing of the past and the territory had won the battle against the deadly disease.
But that's not the case. Mr. Bryan reopened the territory's beaches last Monday after closing them during the Easter weekend, his explanation for the first closure being that people would not have been able to resist the urge to congregate and party during the popular beach weekend — especially on St. Croix with its tradition of Easter camping.
But the governor emphasized that strict social-distancing rules remained in place: "No picnics, no parties, or deejays or large speakers, no get-togethers, no camping. No kickbacks as you young people like to call it, no bonfires — and no celebrating for 4/20," the governor said on April 20.
Even so, at least at Rainbow Beach in Frederiksted, the Consortium witnessed gatherings that exceeded the maximum of 10 individuals as per the governor's order. There was drinking, loud music (though the music emanated from vehicles) and even smoking. Young men sat on the side of the road close to each other with little regard for social distancing. In the water, groups of people — sometimes more than ten in clusters — enjoyed the beautiful Sunday afternoon.
The governor said last Monday that the reopening of beaches was meant to serve as a test to see how Virgin Islanders respond.
"As we slowly open up our economy we are going to have to rely on you to get it done properly. We have taken one of those steps today by opening the beaches. Next week is the end of the first phase of our 30-day stay-at-home order. We understand that there are many of you that need to get back to your living and your normal business, your job, but we have a new normal to contemplate. This week will be a test with how we behave and how serious we're taking this pandemic," Mr. Bryan said.
One of the reasons residents may have flouted the governor's order is that law enforcement, at least at the time the Consortium visited the beach, was nowhere to be seen. Law enforcement were given authority under the governor's order to fine — and even imprison — violators.
In a release issued by the V.I. Dept. of Justice earlier this month, Attorney General Denise George warned order violators that they could be fined or jailed. "During this emergency, all territorial peace officers have been deputized and are operating under the direction of both the Governor and the Incident Commander. Title 14, subsection 883 of the V.I. Code states, in part, 'Whoever disobeys the lawful orders of any police officer... shall be fined not more than $200 or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both,'" reads a portion of the release.
The territory as of Sunday had 57 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with two additional cases being reported on St. Croix. The island had 17 cases as of April 24, and now it has 19 cases as of April 25. St. Thomas remained unchanged at 36 positive cases, while St. John's two positive cases remained unchanged as well, according to data provided by the Dept. of Health. The government said 51 confirmed cases have since recovered, and four patients have died. This means the government is currently tracking only two confirmed cases, both of which are on St. Croix.
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