23 April update – State of Emergency to be extended

OPM, Belize – Fortunately, we remain stable in the field of health and have not reported any positive cases since Monday, April 13 Unfortunately two people died, but luckily none of the 18 originally diagnosed patients remain hospitalized. In fact, we now have 5 patients recovered and the rest are recovering at home.

The tracking and mapping exercise carried out in San Pedro, San Ignacio, Corozal and Belize City is about to end, but sampling continuously. We are also waiting for a resupply of reagents this Saturday that will allow us to proceed with the full scope of the necessary tests. Indeed, it seems that so far we have managed to contain the clusters that developed in San Ignacio and Belize City. This, of course, is no reason to let your guard down. It is obviously the opposite and our health professionals will try to move beyond their achievements.

For about a month now, we have implemented the necessary measures to enforce social distancing, including restrictions on economic activities. More recently, when our fear of the spread of coronavirus reached its peak, we improve our defense. We made it through Legislative Instrument (SI) No. 55 of 2020, which came into effect at midnight on Saturday glory. Due to SI, a complete closure was imposed on Sundays, public transport stopped completely, government offices being shut down to the public and additional private sector establishments also closed. Unless they were extended, these additional barriers would have remained in effect until April 25, 2020 with the exception of the complete closure on Sundays. This was planned to remain in effect until April 30 when SI 55 would come to an end.

Now I can officially report that there will be no extension of these additional closures. These will expire from midnight this Saturday.

We feel able to order this relaxation precisely because of the content of the spread of clusters. In this way, public transport by land, air and sea will summarize for essential workers and essential purposes. However, these passengers, who travel either by bus, boat or plane, must wear facial masks. Government offices will reopen and additional establishments that are in total closure will be able to operate again during a limited schedule. Also, Sunday’s special quarantine will end.

I repeat we will not lower our precautionary stockings. After midnight on Saturday, we will return to the state we were in immediately before additional measures that were added to SI 55 of 2020. In other words, we will remain closed, albeit in a non-extreme way as stipulated in the additional special measures.

To avoid any confusion, the Attorney General, through the media and as soon as possible, will explain the details of SI 55 that remain in force excluding special measures and will answer all questions so that the new measures be absolutely clear.

We will move forward as follows.

The original State of Emergency expires on April 30, 2020. An extension is clearly necessary but can only be done through a National Assembly Resolution. Due to this, there will be a meeting in the House of Representatives this Monday and a Senate meeting the following day. These meetings are solely for the purpose of approving the extension of the State of Emergency and physical attendance to these meetings will be limited only to the minimum amount required to constitute quorum. As soon as Parliament approves the extension of the State of Emergency, a new SI will be prepared to be signed by the Governor General.

The National Monitoring Committee is being advised by the National Working Group, Economic Tsars and the Health Team on more relaxed additional measures that are safe for inclusion in the new SI.

The point is that we are watching the beginning of a gradual and calibrated reboot of commercial and economic activity in Belize.

I reiterate that this will have to be a finely balanced exercise, especially since we cannot rule out the possibility of a second wave of the coronavirus. To emphasize this, the National Assembly is requested for a 2-month extension of the State of Emergency. In this way, there will be a decrease in the rigour of new measures that will enter into force on May 1, 2020. However, it will be to a carefully calculated degree as we continue to treat the preservation of life and health as our first priority.

In this regard, I wish to recognize again to all those on the front lines on this battlefield against coronavirus. I would also like to thank the Belizeño people for their understanding, tolerance and the spirit of cooperation that has been evidenced since the beginning of the crisis. I reiterate the need for us to maintain strict adherence to social distancing and personal hygiene, as well as the good brotherhood I have just recognized.

The two key citizen support programs that includes unemployment relief and food assistance, are moving fast. Therefore, I report that as of this morning 33,771 people had been approved for unemployment benefits, with payments made to 23,680 of them; and 8,017 households with a total of 32,871 people have received baskets of grocery. This amount is in addition to the 4,000 households that already benefited from the existing and long-term food pantry program.

In view of all the progress we are making progressively, I wish to close with a security note. Therefore, I reiterate my unwavering conviction that this fight against COVID-19 is one we can win, one we will win.