State of emergency to continue until March 2021The state of emergency that gives Government power to implement any measures necessary in the interest of the country during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been extended until March next year.
A Resolution to Extend the Public Health Emergency until March 27, 2021 was passed in the House of Assembly today. The initial state of emergency took effect in March this year and lasted for a period of six months.
Attorney General Dale Marshall said that having decided, one month ago, on the need to embark on another 30-day state of emergency, Government felt it best to extend it for a further five months to allow for the continuation of the COVID-19 directives to ensure Barbados remains a safe space.
He said that while Barbadians have returned to work and business, and entertainment venues have reopened, citizens needed to remember that “things are not alright and it will take a long time before things are alright”.
“As a Government, and as a Parliament, we have an obligation to ensure that the structures that are needed to be in place to get Barbados safely over this chasm are in place. It is our constitutional responsibility to reflect on what has happened over the last six seven months and to consider whether it is appropriate for us to maintain the state of emergency for a further five months, to take us to the six [months],” he said.
The Attorney General cautioned that at the end of March 2021, Parliament might have to seek a further extension, as he noted that statistics worldwide pointed to spikes in cases of the highly contagious virus.
He stressed that Barbados could not let its guard down despite making strides in the COVID-19 fight.
“How we have dealt with the COVID pandemic in Barbados, I hope, Sir, will represent a case study in years to come as to how small, nimble economies are able to respond to things that cause giants to halt. And I believe, Sir, that it is a case study that will serve to vindicate the kinds of decisions that have been taken by this administration, both in terms of protecting the livelihoods of our citizens and protecting the lives of our citizens.
“At no step of the way has the decision-making process been easy. I remember being absolutely petrified at the notion that we as a country were about to embark on a curfew. Curfews are things that are imposed in Jamaica, imposed in Trinidad, imposed in other parts of the world, but certainly not in my memory and we are hard pressed to find anybody who could testify to a state of emergency in Barbados and a curfew,” Marshall said.
“We had no manual to guide us, we had no case studies, no best practices to tell us how we should approach this and how we should approach that. But we did have – what we treasure most – our ability to sit with people and to work out how to walk this journey,” the Attorney General added. (Barbados Today)
