Curfew Adjusted as of Sunday
Dean Barrow
COVID-19 continues to spread across the country so additional measures to stem the spread will come into effect as of Sunday and will last for two weeks. Legislation to enforce those new regulations is presently being drafted, but this afternoon during a virtual press conference, Prime Minister Barrow introduced a raft of new steps that will be taken in an attempt to flatten the existing curve, which has ballooned significantly over the past two weeks. It begins with the adjustment of the existing curfew hours. As it stands, citizens who are not considered essential workers are required to remain indoors from eight p.m. to five a.m. On Sunday morning, the start of the new week, the curfew will be reduced by an hour which means that commuters will have up to nine p.m. to get home. PM Barrow also mentioned that all church ceremonies will be halted for a period of two weeks.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Curfew: there’s not going to be any flexibility on weekends. Remember the current regime is curfew from eight p.m. to five a.m. and on weekends from ten p.m. to five a.m. Now, curfew will be uniformed throughout the week, each and every day the same and the curfew hours will be from nine p.m. until five a.m. We’ve gone from eight to nine because there are people who work, for example, in Belize City and live in Corozal and who commute every day. Even when they take, perhaps, the last bus and they get into Corozal Town perhaps just before the start of curfew, but if they then have to travel from the bus depot to some of the surrounding villages, it’s a tight squeeze for them to get in under the start time of the curfew. We’re going to, for this period and we’re talking about two weeks, as the duration of the new measures. After that two weeks, we’re hoping that we would have a handle on this situation and be able to relax and exhale, to breathe again. But banquets, balls, receptions, 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 space which involves the participation of any member of the general public or a congregation, we’re putting a stop to that.”
