Most of the Guyanese population has been subject to a curfew once more since Friday, to cope with a tidal wave of Covid-19 contamination, while vaccination stagnates at less than 40%, but the launch Carnival is held on Saturday.
From Cayenne to Kourou, via Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, the inhabitants must submit since January 7 to a daily curfew from 8:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.
However, restaurants, sports halls and cinemas benefit from exemptions until 10:30 p.m.
Gatherings on public roads are also limited to ten people in these six main towns in Guyana, which account for 76% of the population.
This should not prevent the carnival, a real institution in Guyana, from starting on Saturday, with the traditional arrival of King Vaval, the king of the carnival.
The prefect assured that the festivities, the most important of which are in Cayenne, Kourou and Saint-Laurent, would not be canceled like last year. But entry into the dance halls will be subject to the health pass.
Street parades are also maintained, but carnival groups must adhere to strict protocols.
The incidence rate peaks in Guyana at 1,429 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and the positivity rate flirts with 42%.
At the end of December, the prefect of Guyana, Thierry Queffelec, urgently asked the government to extend the state of health emergency which was to end on December 31 in the department.
On Wednesday, the government had granted his request by granting him this extension of the state of health emergency which now runs until the end of March.
Hospitals have also gone into a white plan, following a decision Thursday by the Guyana Regional Health Agency, in the face of the increase in hospitalizations.