Four days after the Ministry of Finance announced that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest tested negative for COVID-19, the government will shut down the Ministry of Finance and Cabinet Office today at 1pm to sanitize.
Anxious employees say they smell a rat. They questioned why the government made the decision to close these buildings that Turnquest would normally work in early and sanitize on a Thursday? They asked why not do it over the weekend, which is in two days? Why the urgency? Employees say they were left in the dark on the reason behind this spur of the moment sanitizing and were only told to leave the building at 1pm today and return to work tomorrow.
They fear the government isn’t telling them something and are asking why the need to urgently sanitize if Turnquest tested negative for covid-19 on Friday. Insiders say the DPM had been experiencing flu-like symptoms over the weekend. Has he been tested again since taking a covid test last week?
Turnquest learned he had been exposed to the virus after his aide and the aide’s girlfriend tested positive on Friday.
Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis addressed the nation on Sunday but for all his talk of transparency, Minnis chose not to tell Bahamians that their Deputy Prime Minister had been tested two days earlier after being exposed.
The Ministry of Finance released a statement Monday evening after rumors began swirling about the DPM’s aide. Why hasn’t Turnquest released a statement if all is well, he is still fulfilling his duties and is just working remotely from home out of an abundance of caution?
The level of mistrust among Bahamians rises as the government seeks another extension of emergency powers to the end of September, giving the competent authority an even longer period of time to wield limitless power over his misbehaving subjects.