By Sue-Ann Wayow
IF Government did not act at the time it did in implementing the State of Emergency (SoE), Trinidad and Tobago would have been in a much worse position with skyrocketing numbers of Covid-19 related cases and deaths.
And the only reason why the SoE extension is being requested is to discourage night-time socialisation.
If citizens can give up their night-time socialising for a longer period, “ it will be for good reason,” Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says.
In Parliament on Wednesday in his attempt to garner support for the extension to help with curbing the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr Rowley said the economy could have begun to slowly re-open from July 5.
He said cases were plateauing but the country was still not entirely safe from the deadly virus that was still ravaging countries globally.
Dr Rowley said, “ The only reason why we are asking for this State of Emergency to be extended is so that we as a population under terms of the SoE as we described along the way, is to discourage the population from socialising at night between 9 o’ clock and 5 o’ clock in the morning.”
Once nocturnal activities were reduced even amongst families, it would reflect positively in the continued reduction of Covid-19 positive cases, the prime minister said.
He admitted to looking forward to the end of the SoE himself and to lessen the burden on the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) but that luxury cannot be afforded at this time.
Dr Rowley, in the first order of business, tabled the motion. The extension requires a simple majority to be passed. Should it exceed six months, Opposition support will be required.
The SoE was first implemented on May 15, in the height of rising Covid-19 positive cases and was expected to run until May 30. On May 24, it was extended up until August 29.
Dr Rowley said when the SoE was implemented, “We started to see a significant reduction in the daily infection rates.”
The daily infection rate was 397 at May 15 which rose to 520 by May 31. By June 15, “we saw the effect of that discouragement” with 319, June 30 – 297 and July 7 – 161, the Prime Minister said.
“I am not in possession of any data that has not been made public to the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” Dr Rowley added.
Listing the other measures, social distancing, hand sanitizing, Dr Rowley said, “ If we did not come out stronger… the danger was that if the population continued its normal interaction with each other in wherever we interact that that we would have had a major crisis. Against that projection we had to take action.”
Hitting at his opponents who has continuously stated the SoE was suppression livelihoods, Dr Rowley said, “I see lives first and livelihoods after.”
He said the response to the virus in many ways were personal and Government did not want to force down any aspect of the response down anyone’s throat.
Using the mask wearing as an example, however, Dr Rowley said law had to be put in place in order for persons to comply with public health regulations to give the benefit of compliance because many people were not taking the threat of the virus seriously.
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, on Monday called on supporters to honk their horns and drive with their headlights on during the day in protest action against the SoE’s extension.
