Two days ago, we told you that a further relaxation in the state of
emergency measures was coming - and those were formally announced
today.
Effective tomorrow, the curfew will be relaxed for adults and children,
and the numbers allowed in social gatherings will be increased.
So, these changes will allow for the closest thing to a return the
pre-COVID lifestyles that was the norm up to April second when the
first national 8:00 pm curfew went into effect.
Now, these latest changes had been decided upon 11 days ago, before
patients 19 and 20 had appeared.
A press release announcing the changes says, quote
"Though there has been no sign of community transmission of
COVID-19 for over 50 days, the Government continues to take a
phased and balanced approach to reopening. The new relaxation
measures will allow more people to return to work and more
businesses to open."
Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte appeared on Ask the Experts for 90
minutes today specifying what rules are being relaxed, and why.
Here's his explanation of the new hours for the nightly curfew:
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General
"The curfew is set out as this, remember the last time we had a Sunday to
Thursday thing and a Friday night and a Saturday night things. We have the
same situation but different times. From Sunday to Thursday, from 5 in the
morning until 10 at night. Let me repeat, starting tomorrow morning because
all of this comes into effect tomorrow morning at 5, 12th of June, when you
wake up in the morning, 5 o'clock is when the curfew ends and so you can be
out on the street at 5 and once your out on the streets at 5 then you must
be in because tomorrow is a Friday by midnight because tomorrow is Friday.
Sunday to Thursday, it's 5 AM to 10 PM, Friday and Saturday it's 5 AM to
midnight, so when you wake up tomorrow, you are free to roam about from 5
AM to midnight tomorrow, that's Friday and Saturday, 5 in the morning until
midnight tomorrow and Saturday. Come Sunday, Sunday evening you must be in
your house or off the street at 10 PM once again. So are we clear on that?
Children, the curfew remains in place for children and this is the curfew
for children. From Sunday to Thursday, from 5 in the morning to 8 in the
morning you can be out but you must be accompanied by your parent or your
guardian. From 8 AM to 6 PM you can be out by yourself without a parent or
a guardian and from 6 PM to 10 PM Sunday to Thursday, you can be out but
with a parent or a guardian. The curfew applies to children similarly on
Friday, you can be out with your parent or guardian in the evenings now
from 6 PM to midnight. So is that clear?"
So, how will these curfew changes affect the business community? The
Attorney General made sure to segue specifically to that. He stressed
that businesses are allowed to open from 5 in the morning, but that
they must close 1 hour before the nightly adult curfew takes effect:
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte
"Every other time that applied before we did any state of emergency, that
time is now back again. So, let me give you an example. Starting tomorrow,
all public servants are to report to work at 8 AM and they report off of
work at 4:30 on Friday pursuant to the public service regulation and I'm
sure that our dedicated public servants are super excited about that. So
starting tomorrow, work begins at 8 AM tomorrow and done 4:30 and starting
next week Monday, 8 AM to 5 PM. So all times go back to pre covid-19
restrictions. All businesses that will be allowed to open can operate
within 5 in the morning to 10 the night Sunday to Thursday or 5 in the
morning to midnight, Friday and Saturday. However, all businesses must
close one hour before the curfew starts. So Sunday to Thursday, you must
close 9 o'clock. Friday and Saturday, you must close 11 o'clock, one hour
before the curfew starts. Now, you cannot use the curfew to your benefit in
this sense, let's just say for example you are a business and you have a
license that allows you to open 10 in the morning and close 4 in the
evening, that is your license you know, open 10 and close 4. You can't say
that because the curfew is 10 the night, you want open until 9, no. You
must go by your license, so when the license man say, your business close
4, you can't say but the curfew is only until 9 tonight so why can't I
open? No, the curfew is just there for people who are normally allowed to
open beyond midnight."
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