Government House briefing urged hurricane preparation and reiterated event-approval rules

At a Government House press briefing on May 31, 2021, Communications Director Richard Motta Jr. urged Virgin Islands residents to prepare for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season by assembling supply kits and signing up for VITEMA alerts.

Motta said residents could find hurricane-preparedness guidance, AlertsVI registration and a 2021 hurricane tracking map on the VITEMA website.

At the same briefing, Territorial Epidemiologist Dr. Esther Ellis said the Health Department was seeing new COVID-19 cases linked to parties and other gatherings. She said organizers seeking to hold events outside the scope of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.'s executive orders were required to obtain approval from the Department of Health's Division of Environmental Health.

Ellis said a special-events request form had to be submitted at least 14 days before an event and that promotional materials also had to be provided to the department before public distribution.

The Health Department reported 121 new positive COVID-19 cases between May 21 and May 27, including 101 on St. Thomas, 14 on St. Croix and six on St. John.

Government House also said Bryan had submitted a two-year executive budget to the 34th Legislature on May 28, 2021, and that 9,000 stimulus checks totaling $17.5 million were scheduled to be mailed on June 3, 2021, after a delay tied to a COVID-19-related closure at the Bureau of Internal Revenue office on St. Thomas.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/government-house-urges-residents-to-prepare-for-hurricane-season/