Just one week after getting the green light from government to resume operations after being shut down for three months, bar owners will now be mandated to close their business at 8pm daily, instead of 10pm.

The decision, announced by National Security Minister Stuart Young during Monday morning’s COVID-19 press briefing, comes as Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley lamented over the weekend, that  some bar operators had consistently ignored the social distancing COVID-19 guidelines. 

Bars will now be allowed to operate in a 12hour window- 8am to 8pm.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, who said he was “disappointed” by the operators’ failure to comply to the Public Health regulations, warned that the behavior had the potential to reverse the good work already done to keep the virus at bay.

Over the weekend, the Trinidad and Tobago Beverage and Alcohol Alliance (TTBAA) says beginning today, it has instructed manufacturers to withhold alcohol supplies from delinquent bar owners who continue to ignore  the COVID-19 public health regulations.

Meanwhile, the Bar Owners Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BOATT) pleaded with the authorities not to shutdown their operations because of what it described as the bad behavior of an “errant few”. The call comes after Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, over the weekend, threatened to revoke the allowance for bar owners to reopen, due to non-compliance to the COVID-19 public health regulations.