(Trinidad Express) Public health regulations, which were due to expire today, have now been extended to July 4.
And Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday the Government is going to Parliament tomorrow to extend the state of emergency (SoE) for 90 days.
Rowley made these announcements yesterday, noting the Covid-19 numbers are still too high to relax any measures.
On April 29, the PM had ordered a wide-scale lockdown affecting many businesses, including restaurants, bars, casinos, malls, gyms, spas, cinemas and others.
Additional restrictions were imposed one week later, with only essential businesses such as hardwares, supermarkets and pharmacies being allowed to operate. The restrictions were to remain in effect until May 23.
Speaking during a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s yesterday, Rowley said he had hoped to be able to lift the restrictions by today, but the country’s Covid-19 situation had not improved.
However, he said the restrictions can be revoked at any time once the desired decrease in Covid-19 numbers is achieved.
“It doesn’t mean that we are going to be in this situation for 90 days; we will revoke it as soon as that is the prudent action to take. Whether it is one month after or six weeks after or whatever time, we want to come out of it as quickly as possible. But we will have the legal ability to go for 90 days.
“And so all of that, both the SoE and the public health regulations, will be determined by what the condition is in the country at any day. But the expected condition has not been attained. And, in fact, it has worsened. So we are now looking further down the road. What we’re really looking at here now… we’re looking at July 4,” he said.
Rowley urged the population to follow the Covid-19 guidelines to ensure the restrictions can be lifted sooner rather than later.
“The more disciplined we are on this, the more successful we are in managing our infection levels, the quicker we come out of this,” he said.
