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At the top of the newscast, we showed you the Prime Minister’s virtual press conference. He headlined it with announcement that Government is slightly relaxing some of the stricter rules of the State of Emergency, even though it has been extended for 2 more months. 

This afternoon, Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte made an appearance on the Ask the Experts webcast, to fill in the details, and give a bit more clarity on what is being allowed, and what isn’t. 

During his presentation, the AG began with a few of the rules that haven’t changed much. Among the things that still remain are the children’s curfew, and the 8 p.m. curfew for adults. Here’s how he explained why those will remain, and why there has been a slight modification for the children’s curfew, now that more businesses are being allowed to open:

Hon. Michael Peyfitte - Attorney General
"There is still a curfew in place. When you wake up tomorrow, the curfew will kick in still at 8 p.m. tomorrow night, May 1st. The curfew remains from 8 at night until 5 the next morning, every night until June 30th. It remains unless you’re a police officer, BDF, Coast Guard, front line healthcare provider. For the Government, if you are an immigration service, customs officer on-duty as I said - on-duty. If you are a policeman on duty, you’re allowed to be on the street after 8 and before 5 in the morning. On duty, so not because you are a policeman means that you have the right to be out there at midnight. If you’re out there at midnight - and it has happened - we have arrested a police officer or two for breaking curfew. Not because you are a police officer means that you can be out there. You have to be on duty. I want the Belizean people to remember that. We are still in the State of Emergency. We’ll remain that way, and the curfew stays in place. Curfew for children remains in place, but it will be expanded for a reason I will get into later on in the discussion. Children will be allowed to be on the streets from 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening. If you’re under 16. Why we have extended it from 4 to 6, it’s very simple. If we’re allowing more people to work, then more chances people will have babysitting needs. So, if you get off of work at 4, you’ll be given a chance to pick up your child between 4 and 6 and get that child off the street by 6 o’clock. The curfew for children will now be between 8 and 6. Now, don’t forget that if you’re with a child between 4 and 6, you better be coming from work or something. Not because you’re allowed to be out there means that the police can’t question you. What is this child doing here? If you are just gallivanting, you’ll be committing and offense. You have to demonstrate clearly to the police officer that you have to have that child with you before 6 because you’re either need to go perform an essential service, or you had to pick up that child from the babysitter to take him or her back home."