We also asked Minister Kareem Musa about the curfew, since over the weekend he indicated via Facebook that there will be some changes to the SI currently in place. He said that while this is true, it does not mean that the curfew will be lifted - instead, it will simply be adjusted. He clarified some misunderstandings about the SI and said that next month, Belize will see the new changes.
Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs & New Growth Industries
"I know that there is a huge misconception out there that perhaps the SI had an expiration date when in fact it did not but what I can assure the public is that the Ministry of Health and its taskforce has been reviewing the regulations and towards the ending of the month which is next week, starting on February 1 we will see an adjustment in these regulations. That might not necessarily mean a lifting of the curfew but maybe an adjustment of the curfew. I think that is the number 1 concern out there particularly for the restaurant owners, they would want to see an adjustment made because they find that 8 o'clock is too early in order to serve their customers, and so we are looking at that, the ministry of Health and the taskforce which is made up of medical professionals that have been guiding the ministry have been looking at these things. As you know, last month, in December, the dialogue that was happening in the public is the contemplation of a complete lockdown so imagine that we are here today, a lot of people are here today, clamoring for us to open up back because the numbers have been going down and so I just want to tart from that position, to say that we have come a long way but we are still very much in the middle of the woods. This pandemic is not going away, this is the year of the vaccine and so we as the public, we have to make the very selfless decision to consider frontline workers, to consider doctor, some of whom have passed away, to consider police officers who have passed away, to consider even a member of the House of Representatives who have passed away. So while it is that I hear the anxiety and the build up and the clamor now because our numbers have been going down for us to reopen, we have to consider and we have to give ourselves a pat on the back for coming this far, that we were able to make to through December, that we were able to make it through New Year's without a huge spike."
Musa also clarified statements made by the UDP in a press release issued last week. They claimed that an SI without a definite end or a state of emergency is unconstitutional - but the minister says check again.
Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs & New Growth Industries
"I know that the UDP has issued a call, a press release, in which they condemn these regulations, this SI, and refer to it as being unconstitutional. I don't where they're getting their legal advice but clearly it appears the opposition UDP is in a very discombobulated state that they're now grabbing at political straws at a time when the country needs us to be very united in this effort to fight this pandemic, to fight coronavirus. And so they're attacking this even though they're also the ones who had imposed curfews as well. But it is in my opinion, they grabbed at straws for cheap political mileage and it is going to be to their own demise because people are appreciating the results that we are getting. The results are showing, yesterday I believe only 23 cases out of some 257 tests. That is a major turnaround from where we were in December, actually contemplating a lockdown. And so, again, I don't know who is giving them legal advice and saying that this is unconstitutional, but they only need to turn to their public health act, open their public health act, look at section 83 1e I believe which authorizes the DHS from time to time to present regulations to pass SI's such as the one we passed in December for the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases. So I don't know why they're now coming and saying this is unconstitutional, this is a completely untenable position that they are taking."
"If you recall when the previous government was imposing this state of emergency, I believe they were using the quarantine act, it was a time when they were trying to stop crime as well, crime was out of control, and they were trying to do a dual purpose capture of the pandemic and the out of control crime situation and if you recall they had arrested over 100 individuals from the southside of Belize City under the SOE but the public health act that I am referring to makes absolutely no mention of there having to be a SOE in order for the DHS to implement and to present their regulations that are, like I said, in the best interest of the health of our nation."
But as much as people may disagree with the curfew, according to the minister, it's working. He said that cases have been on a decrease and the proof is in the numbers.
Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs & New Growth Industries
"In terms of the pandemic, clearly we have seen the results of the curfew, we were able to contain what could have possibly been a major super spreader, I am told that some people still had small parties for New Year's and that is unfortunate but at the same time when you look at the results here in the middle of January to where we were in the middle of December and we were able to contain the spread, to put a brakes on the spread, the curfew has certainly yielded excellent results and so when we look at that and then you look at crime as well, I think under the last administration like I said the SOE combined with the curfew they were attributing the reduction in crime at the end of the year to those things and I will not deny that, that there is a correlation between crime as well as the pandemic when it comes to the curfew that is in place. So while there are results that can be attributed to crime, let me make it very clear that the curfew that is in place is not to contain crime, it is actually to prevent the spread of COVID."
The current curfew begins at 8pm and ends at 5am. It has been a major obstacle, especially for the tourism sector, since tourists must also abide by the SI.
