By Carlena Knight
The national curfew – currently due to expire at the end of next month – will more than likely be extended for an additional 90 days.
This was the response from the Minister of Information, Melford Nicholas, on Friday when asked if Cabinet will be looking to remove the state of emergency due to the low number of Covid-19 cases in Antigua and Barbuda.
The twin island nation has been under a state of emergency for more than a year, with the government insisting it was the best way to institute the measures needed to curb the spread of Covid-19.
But, despite a marked dip in the number of virus cases in recent weeks, there seems to be little chance, according to Nicholas, that it will be removed since “the threat of Covid is still around”.
“I would imagine that the threat of Covid is still with us and so when we get towards the end of June, we may likely, during the course of one of these sessions in Parliament in June, make a determination to extend the state of emergency for another 90 days. It’s more than likely,” said Nicholas during the post-Cabinet Press briefing yesterday.
Nicholas said that the government cannot take a relaxed approach.
