By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE State of Emergency (SoE) first implemented in May to combat the spread of Covid-19 will be officially dissolved on Wednesday when the Parliament meets.
This was announced by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on Saturday during a press conference in Port-of-Spain.
The SoE will end after an almost six-month period and any further extension would require the support of the Opposition Members of Parliament according to the Constitution.
The country’s curfew hours are currently 10 pm to 5 am daily.
The first period of the SoE began on May 15 and ran until May 30. On May 24, it was extended till August 29.
Dr Rowley said, “It (the SoE) was a holding arrangement to reduce the period of exposure and mixing until such time where we could have had a roll-out of our vaccination programme. We have done that. What we can do now is to remove that restriction and allow those elements of the economy for whom the SoE and the curfew was a stricture of some kind and allow the population to take more responsibility for itself because this is what it is going to be. There is no shortcut.”
“We can do without it now,” he added.
However, he encouraged, “Focus on doing the personal thing for your personal fate.”
The population, vaccinated and unvaccinated will continue to be managed under the Public Health Ordinance he stated.
This means that persons would still be required to be masked in public, public gatherings remain at ten, public fetes and parties in all forms remain prohibited, physical school for forms four, five and six.
Slight adjustments were made concerns religious organisations in which religious activities can be conducted with a 50% capacity and for a duration for 90 minutes.
Internal space for christenings, weddings and funerals could now accommodate up to 50% capacity and 25 people will now be allowed at the gravesites as opposed to the previous ten, Dr Rowley announced.
Consumption of alcohol remains prohibited in a public place.
He also said there were a number of requests that aqua therapy was essential for some persons and public pools are now added to the list of the establishments already under the TT Safe Zone initiative so that vaccinated persons can now use public pools.
By eliminating the SoE, relief will be brought to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and the Defence Force, the Prime Minister said.
“Now that the SoE will be lifted on Wednesday, we will enforce and enforce the laws and regulations with respect to these actions mentioned,” Dr Rowley emphasised.
Shutting down the country to further deal with the virus was no longer an option even in the face of increasing positive Covid-19 cases. The population needed to learn how to live and adapt with a virus that does not seem to be letting up even after almost two years and even countries who had a high percentage of vaccination still struggled with the containment of Covid-19, he said.
However, there will still be a hold on beaches and contact sports, but hopefully by Christmas there may be a partial opening of the beaches.
The main fear was the associated activities at beaches such as overcrowding and partying.
He is also hoping that in January, more children will be back into the physical classroom.
All options will be considered going forward, the Prime Minister said.
Strain on parallel healthcare system
Dr Rowley said yet again that the lack of Covid-19 vaccination was now causing a strain on the parallel healthcare system.
He said, “The parallel system that has worked so well for the past year is close to a breaking point.”
If it does collapse, it would not be because the healthcare workers did not do their jobs properly but because a significant portion of the population chose not to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Dr Rowley said, “We are in a very dangerous place.”
The treatment of the virus was still the biggest challenge face he said.
Dr Rowley also spoke again about the Covid-19 medication that is being promoted currently. He was asked about the drug Molnupiravir that is not yet World Health Organization (WHO) approved.
He did say that the cost of a vaccine was far less costly than the drug treatment which can cost for one person approximately $30,000.
Vaccination still the key
Vaccination remains the key to dealing more efficiently with the virus.
Referring to persons protesting against the vaccine Dr Rowley said, along with the “My body, my choice” slogan they should also add “my consequence.”
He also knocked the Opposition for casting blame and aspersions on the management team.
“The blame game matters not when you are lying in a hospital bed,” he said.
In March, people were clamouring for vaccines when there were not any in the country, but now, the vaccination programme has stalled which was of major concern, the Prime Minister said.
