BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – The Barbados Parliament on Friday extended the COVID-19-triggered State of Public Health Emergency until June 30, but Attorney General Dale Marshall stressed that was not an indication the 24-hour curfew currently in effect would be extended for that period, the Saint Lucia Times reported April 25.
Government initially declared the Public Health Emergency on March 27. But speaking in Parliament, Acting Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw said government was extending the measure based on the advice of the experts.
“We believe that acting on the advice of the public health officials, particularly the Ministry of Health and Wellness, that while we have done a substantial amount of work in relation to containing the virus, that we still appreciate that we are in a very fluid period at this point in time,” she said.
“And even though in the last couple days…we’ve not had a number of positive cases, I don’t want Barbadians to rest on their laurels and believe that all of the efforts of our health officials should now be dashed aside and that we should rest and be complacent in how we deal with this virus.”
After the announcement, many citizens took to social media to lament the extension, believing that it applied to the current curfew which has seen residents being required to stay at home unless going to supermarkets, hardware stores and other exempted businesses, based on an alphabetical system, or to seek medical care or go to pharmacies. That curfew is set to end on May 3.
In a statement on Friday afternoon clarifying the extension of the emergency proclamation, Attorney General Dale Marshall said that no decision has been made on extending the curfew. See full story in Saint Lucia Times at https://stluciatimes.com/barbados-extends-covid-19-state-of-emergency-until-end-of-june/
