Our newsroom has been reliably informed that Flow BVI’s Flagship store in Road Town has been forced to close due to the detection of a positive case by an employee.
Earlier this morning Flow issued a statement on its Facebook page to its stakeholders stating,
“To our Valued Customers and Stakeholders: We wish to advise that with immediate effect, our Flow Romasco Retail Store is closed until further notice. This is to allow for deep cleaning and sanitization of our store operations. Customers are advised to utilize our Virtual Retail Store services for account and service inquiries, or upgrades. Our Virtual Retail Store can be contacted via WhatsApp Message at 544-4444 from 8:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays. Customers may also visit the company’s website at Flow | British Virgin Islands (discoverflow.co) to sign up for services or pay bills using Flow Fast Pay fastpay-webapp2.0 (discoverflow.co) or the bill payment machine located outside of the Flow Romasco Retail Store. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
Our newsroom reached out to the telecommunications company’s communications team who issued the following statement, “Flow BVI wishes to confirm that two members of our Management Team have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been placed under quarantine as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Social Development. The remaining members of the management team have received negative test results and will retestin the coming days. The safety of our employees, their families, our customers, and the communities is our primary concern. Out of an abundance of caution, we have closed our offices and store locations until further notice. This is to allow for deep cleaning and sanitization of our Flow Romasco Store and office locations.”
The statement continued, “Customers are advised to utilize our Virtual Store services for account and service inquiries, or upgrades. Our Virtual Store can be contacted via WhatsApp Message at 544-4444 from 8:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays. Customers are also encouraged to visit the company’s website at discoverflow.co to sign up for services or pay bills using Flow Fast Pay or the bill payment machine located outside of the Flow Romasco Retail Store.
Flow apologizes for any inconveniences caused by this temporary closure of our store. We thank our customers and the public for their continued cooperation as we work to provide you with the best communications services in a safe and efficient manner.”
Recently Flow BVI’s employees protested based on recently implemented vaccine mandates by the company that prohibited them from entering the company’s premises because they are not vaccinated.
See previous story below.
C&W ISSUES MANDATORY VACCINATION POLICY TO STAFF; COMPANY ISSUE STATEMENT
Staff of Flow, officially Cable & Wireless seemed to have been meet with a “surprise” on yesterday December 1st, 2021 when they were not allowed on the premises of the company due to their vaccination status. However, management says this was not a surprise to staff and measures were clearly outlined providing staff with adequate time.
Local media showed a handful of staff members outside expressing their disgust with the situation and what they called discrimination and an attack on their human rights. This is not the first company to issue such a mandate in the Virgin Island since the onset of vaccination efforts.
While there are persons in support and those in opposition of such mandates, what is alarming is that the Government of the Virgin has left this solely up to employees to decide. Not issuing any statements on the matter of employers requesting mandatory vaccination.
Our newsroom reached out to Cable & Wireless Communications team and they shared the following statement.
“Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic, C&W Communications, parent company of BTC, C&W Business, C&W Networks, and Flow, has implemented rigorous health and safety measures to help protect our employees, their families, and our customers and local communities.
As we continue to manage and operate through the global COVID pandemic across our markets, the company has taken the decision to mandate vaccination for our employees in a phased approach over time. This decision was not taken lightly, but ultimately, we believe we have a responsibility to our employees, our customers, and the communities we serve.
In conjunction with the roll-out of its vaccination policy, C&W Communications will implement a hybrid working model where employees who have been working remotely will return to the office for a designated period each week based on their roles and responsibilities. In the BVI, the vaccine mandate and return to work framework takes effect on December 1, 2021, where only fully vaccinated employees will be allowed into office facilities.
The timing for the vaccination mandate and adoption of the hybrid working model is determined on a market-by-market basis considering factors such as country vaccination rates, employee vaccination rates, the availability of in-person schooling, and accessibility to public transportation, among other criteria.”
More to come as the story develops.