For some, the numbers and the daily rate of infection scare lockdown, but - citing advice from the World Health Organization - the Prime Minister today announced that he is not ready to go there - not yet, at least:

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Total lockdowns are not recommended by the WHO because of the economic and social devastation that such lockdowns caused. So, I am fortified in my own thinking that we pretty much at all cost want to avoid anything like a total lockdown. I want to express the hope which is not just a pius or idle hope, based on all that I've just said that we can ultimately contain this new surge or these new surges."

And right now, the daily increasing numbers are not reflecting that hope, and that's why to contain the spread, the Prime Minister today announced a new set of measures that will limit social movement and gathering, but do not amount to a lockdown. He discussed the new curfew, and the new limitations on restaurants, tacos stands and other social interactions:

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"First of all curfew is not going to be any flexibility on weekends. You remember the current regime is curfew from 8pm to 5am and on weekends from 10pm to 5am. Now, curfew will be uniform throughout the week each and every day the same and the curfew hours will be from 9p.m. until 5a.m. We've gone from 8pm to 9pm because there are people who work, for example, in Belize City and live in Corozal and who commute every day. That is the only reason for going from 8-9pm so that we can better accommodate those people who do that kind of daily cross-country commute.

"Last time I said we wanted to give a pass to things like volleyball and perhaps basketball - there is just no way as Dr. Manza points out of sanitizing the ball after every play and so it can't work, given the circumstances those things are going to have to stop. The public parks and playgrounds that have basketball courts, we are going to prohibit use of those public parks and playgrounds. All that will come under the rubric of the prohibition of all recreational or competitive sporting events."

"Wedding - no wedding can host 10 or more than 10 persons other than the bride, the bride groom, the official witnesses and the marriage officer. We are going to for this period and we are talking about 2 weeks as the duration of the new measures. But banquets, balls reception - no go. Those are to be prohibited. Social events, getting together for some kind of interaction attended by libations all that must stop."

"All ceremonies of public worship in any facility or public place which involves the participation of any member of the general public or a congregation, we're putting a stop to that. Restaurants - we are very careful, because we don't want too much to interfere with the economy, but again certainly the close restaurants where as Dr. Manza says there is the circulation of air without a sort of escape valve, if you will, can be very dangerous. The air-conditioned restaurants for in-house dining as it were. We thought about limiting it to open air, but again, ultimately, we came down on the side only allowing restaurants to operate on take out, delivery and drive-thru basis. Brings me to the tacos vendors and the barbecue sellers, again, if you can deliver, if you can have people pick up from your premises that's best. We do not want to take the livelihood away from the tacos vendors, so what we are going to be saying is you find a parking lot or you find some lot perhaps close to the street, but not on the street side. We can't pretend to be serious about what we are trying to do and allow the crowding of the tacos vendors by people on the street side."