Lockdown - it's a word that we haven't heard since late last year, before this government was elected to office, and one that has certainly brings flashbacks to the stringent measures that prevailed up to a year ago.
But tonight, that word is back in the news after the PUP government announced the first since they've taken office.
But it won't be countrywide - just three villages in the south that have seen rising numbers of COVID cases will be affected. For two weeks, Midway, Conejo, and Barranco residents will not be able to leave their villages. Now, we note that the lockdown comes one week after those villages started to report very high rates of infections.
But unlike the villages in Orange Walk who faced the same last year and were stuck with empty shelves and wallets, the Minister of Health and Wellness explained in the House that the government will provide for these residents.
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health and Wellness
"Due to the rapid increase of positive cases in the south, as of today, movement from the villages of Midway, Conejo and Barranco will be restricted for a period of two weeks. Starting today, the Ministry of Health and Wellness will be supplying food to each household in these villages and they will be replenished every four days over the next two weeks. In addition, each household will be receiving a hundred and fifty dollar per week over the next two weeks."
"This, ladies and gentlemen is how a lockdown should be done. As a matter of public health, we are forced to take these measures, but we are also making sure that our people in those villages will have food and a stipend to sustain them over the next 2 weeks. The Ministry of Health and Wellness team of vaccinators and contact tracers will be in these villages as of today and throughout the weekend. We must and we shall take the necessary measures to curtail the spread of this virus."
Each of the villages has only a few hundred residents.
