Curfew Continues into September - Restaurant Staff Allowed Extra Hour to Get Home.

The Ministry of Health & Wellness informs the public that the current curfew has been extended for the entire month of September by way of Statutory Instrument No. 96 of 2021.

The ministry also informs that employers and staff of restaurants will be allowed one extra hour after curfew to reach their respective destinations safely.

Please find the link below to view SI No. 96 of 2021:
https://www.pressoffice.gov.bz/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SI-No-96-of-2021-Public-Health.pdf

Curfew Extended Another 30 Days

With cases on the rise, the curfew has been extended for another 30 days. While Minister Musa didn't know much of the details this morning, he did say that it had just been gazetted. He also said that there shouldn't be any other changes - including as it relates to a lockdown for the city.

Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"I believe they issued one this morning. I haven't seen it yet, but I am told that it extends the curfew and it continues at 9pm."

Reporter
"The numbers in Belize City in particular just shooting up. The hospitalizations as well are going up which means that at some point our hospital system is going to be over the top. Will there be anything done about that for Belize City?"

Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"This is why we do a month to month assessment to determine at what point we need to take more drastic measures. I can tell you at this week's cabinet there was no measure that was announced and so we should not be expecting any changes per say to the SI in that regard, but we are very mindful of the very critical situation that we have at our hospitals. I think yesterday we had 3 deaths. That's very alarming and we should not allow ourselves to become numb to the fact that it's now normal to have 3 deaths in a day and so we have to look at that very critically and if at any point the hospital becomes overburdened we will have to take other measures as well."

One Change In New SI - Restaurants Can Open Later

Tonight, there are new COVID time regulations - contained in statutory instrument, #96 of 2021 - which came into force today. This one extends the daily 4:00 am to 9:00 pm curfew for the entire month of September.

The major change is that restaurants can now open a little later - presumably to accommodate the tourist industry.

Employers and staff of restaurants will now be allowed one extra hour after curfew to get home - so, instead of closing at 8:00, they can keep their doors open a little longer.

Also, the definition of front-line workers has been expanded yet again - to include "personnel and staff of the Coast Guard". Also, paragraph D from regulation 2 has been deleted, and it now refers to "personnel and staff of the Belize Defence Force".

Channel 7