COVID-19 forces cancellation of T&T Carnival

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Government in Trinidad has pulled the plug on the staging of the 2021 National Carnival Festivities, one of the marquee events across the region.
 
Announcement of the cancellation came yesterday (Sept. 28) by Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley while he was addressing the ‘Spotlight on the Budget and Economy 2020’.
 
“Unless there is some dramatic wind that will blow across us, whereby Christmas, the pandemic will be nothing but of the past, Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago in 2021 is not on.”
 
The twin-island Republic has been fighting to combat the spread of the virus in recent months and was forced to host the 2020 Caribbean Premier League behind closed doors.
 
Current numbers provided by health officials in the territory point to more than 4,000 confirmed cases and 72 deaths.
 
“Picture J’Ouvert Morning, but with the Coronavirus still a major issue not only in Trinidad and Tobago but in the world around us, it is just not on. Let us be thankful that we are still alive to see each other's face.     
 
“Let us remember what our country passed through in 1918. Let us understand what is happening in countries abroad that have not been able to control the spread among its population. And in those examinations and review, [picture] a carnival which is the perfect environment for the spreading of the virus, is not something that we can count on at this time,” noted Rowley.
 
The Prime Minister told the attendees that the decision would have “serious economic knock-on effects” but on the other hand, “we can’t hope to gain on that swing and die on the merry-go-round”.  
 
Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival is held annually prior to the Lent period and welcomes thousands of visitors from the region and around the world to ‘jump and prance’.