Coronavirus and Carnival Cancellations

We are only three months in to 2020 and there’s already been the loss of a legendary basketball player, political unrest in Guyana, America’s Democratic Party in shambles, and now a global pandemic. COVID-19, better known as Coronavirus, initiated in Wuhan, China. On January 7, 2020, Chinese health authorities confirmed that a cluster of cases of pneumonia was associated with a novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV. Since then tens of thousands of confirmed cases arose around the world causing governments to restrict international travel, corporate work hours, and large gatherings.

Like I said, we are only three months in. The pandemic has caused a wave of hysteria with people buying face masks, hand sanitizer and toilet paper in bulk. While many of us are not running to the stores for massive quantities of 2-ply, we are complying with regulations. However, for the socaholics among us, these restrictions mean missing out on our best stress reliever: Carnival.

In early March, Berlin announced the cancellation of their Carnival parade, although events under 1,000 people would still be permitted. BRT Weekend in Jamaica and Turks and Caicos were postponed until the summer. Jamaica announced that they are postponing their Carnival until October 25, 2020, a full six months after the original date. In addition, parties in Fort Lauderdale, Toronto, Puerto Rico and New York have been indefinitely postponed.

The World Health Organization recommends vigilant hygiene and social distancing. In other words, learn fi dance a yaad. For the recalitrants among us this is particularly difficult. However, we will need to comply with our local governments so that we can reduce the risk of exposure to the virus and, more importantly, so that we can get back to the party!

In the latest Rant and Rave podcast episode, DysChick and SocaSaySo discuss the various ways that the Coronavirus pandemic’s effect on fetes and festivals and why we should turn down the news and turn up the soca!