St Lucia to extend state of emergency as COVID-19 cases surge past 2,000
Gavin Riley / Our Today
administrator
Amid a spiralling of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in St Lucia, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet says the state of emergency imposed on the island will be extended for 90 days.
Chastanet, in an address to the nation on Monday evening (February 8), said he will be seeking Cabinet’s approval for the extension on Tuesday, which would take immediate effect.
“This has become necessary as COVID cases, regrettably, continues to rise. In this, our third wave of the pandemic, we’ve had over 1,000 cases—most recorded in January alone, with far too many lives lost,” he explained.
“The situation is worrying, with many of us continuing to disregard health and safety protocols, though the vast majority of our people for complying,” Chastanet added.
The prime minister argued that like in April 2020, when a similar state of emergency was declared and between June and September when the government imposed curfews to “much success”, the measure will help authorities to restrict movement and slow down the virus’ spread.
“We must take measures to limit movement and lessen the avenues of contact that drive the virus. Adjustments to the curfew may be made during the 90 day[s]—and even lifted, based on the number of new cases recorded,” he said.
“The state of emergency may also end before the 90 days, once the Ministry of Health is satisfied that the transmission rate is trending downward significantly,” the St Lucian prime minister continued.
St Lucia, while making no declaration of community spread, confirmed 214 new cases on Monday, taking the national coronavirus total to 2,027.
The sharp increase sees the Caribbean island jump from managing 54 active cases at the start of January—to 1,125 active infections currently.
Some 883 patients have recovered from the infectious disease, while 19 persons have died due to coronavirus-related complications.
The state of emergency, which Prime Minister Chastanet declared last Wednesday, was initially intended to last for a week, ending tomorrow February 10.
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