7 News Belize

New Month, New Rules
posted (April 24, 2020)
So, we stress, all these new wrinkles in the State of Emergency rules come into effect on Sunday.

But, these are just interim measures for 5 days: they will be followed next week Friday, May first, by a new set of measures, which may start to open up the economy and social living a little more.

These will be introduced next week after another round of COVID testing is done. Peyrefitte explained:

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General
"If between now today and next week Friday May 1st for example, we have no more cases, we continue to have zero cases every day and clearly it will show that we have some control over the situation, then the rules from May 1st to end of June could be very loose. If all of a sudden between now and next week Friday, we have 100 cases or 50 cases come upon us, then the rules between May 1st and June 30th could be fairly strict. We have not yet completed the rules for May 1st to June 30th, because we have to look to see what will happen between now and May 1st."

So, one way or the other, Belize remains under a state of emergency with strict rules. We won't know until next week how much government plans to relax those rules - and they won't know until they see the continued outcomes of COVID testing.

But, on that front we note that we aren't seeing any new testing being done. The infographic for Wednesday and Thursday shows the same total number of tests: 816 over two days. That tells us that no new tests were done from one day to the other, and yesterday the Prime Minister said that reagents are coming in tomorrow, which, quote, "will enable us to proceed with the full scope of necessary testing." End quote. That tells us that testing has slowed down, and the Director of Health Services posted last night that quote, "we can anticipate a higher number of tests from Saturday through to Monday." End quote.

On Monday the government will go to the house to request a two month extension on the state of emergency, taking it up to June 30th. AG Peyrefitte today said they are doing that just in case it is needed, but the state of emergency may be called off before then.

But, the PUP today said 60 days is too much. A press release says, quote, "The last reported positive case in Belize was on the 13th April, 2020. The PUP has consulted medical experts who have advised that if there are no new positive cases for the next 30 days, it would be safe to lift the State of Emergency. In this circumstance as a Party we support a 30-day State of Emergency…Most importantly, during the state of emergency the land borders must remain closed and airports must remain closed to international passenger flights….COVID-19 has brought the Belizean economy to a virtual standstill. The PUP calls on the Government to implement a measured 'opening up' so as to spur economic activities. It is necessary to strike an equilibrium between well-being of the population and public health and safety." End quote.

We expect this will be debated at Monday's house meeting where the UDP will only be represented by four members and the PUP will be represented by three to keep social groupings under 10.

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7 News Belize