By Sue-Ann Wayow
AS of midnight tonight (Wednesday), the State of Emergency (SoE) implemented to combat the spread of Covid-19 will officially end.
This was announced by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on Wednesday as he piloted a motion to dissolve the SoE in Parliament.
Dr Rowley in giving a brief history of the reasons why the SoE was implemented since May 15, said Trinidad and Tobago was in a much better place where vaccinations were concerned.
In May, he said the country was in “a desperate place,” with rising Covid-19 cases and little signs of vaccine availability.
He said only 14,000 persons were vaccinated in May compared to November as more than 600,000 persons were given the shot “a far cry from where we were in May.”
Dr Rowley said the country received 1.9 million doses of a vaccine, administered 1.2 million and had 650,000 plus more to administer. The vaccines were being made available to all members of the local and foreign population.
In lifting the SoE restrictions which included the curfew hours, Dr Rowley said the main onus would be now on the population to safeguard itself as the Government has done everything it possibly can to protect lives.
“We are differently armed and there is greater responsibility now on the individual,” he said.
Dr Rowley said, “Every month is different, every day is different and it appears as though every year is different. As we speak now in the second year of the pandemic we are hearing about a fourth wave in the developed countries and we too have to gird our loins in preparation for that because it appears as though this virus is going to be with us for a very long time.”
He said the government will continue to provide vaccinations, work overtime and continue with the parallel healthcare system. He again urged the population to get vaccinated.
Dr Rowley criticised Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for not supporting the SoE and he did not expect anything else from “ members on the other side,” admitting that he was aware of the fact that the Opposition would not support any extension of the SoE as they opposed it in the first instance.
“You should be jumping up and down today singing hallelujah,” he told Persad-Bissessar.
And reading from comments of the business community he said that sector especially will be much relieved as more employees can work various shifts.
Last Saturday, Dr Rowley announced that he would have been going to the Parliament on Wednesday to dissolve the SoE. He said there was now the adaptation of living with the pandemic and the percentage of the vaccinated population allowed for the SoE to be dissolved.
