ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC)— Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell says Grenadians will be living in an indefinite State of Emergency, as part of measures by his administration to control and contain the spread of COVID-19.
“We will be going to parliament with a permanent State of Emergency, a law that guides us for a period of time. I honestly believe that we should have that process in place until you have a vaccine that protects the people from being infected,” Mitchell said on Wednesday.
“Until a vaccine is found I don’t think we should lift the emergency situation completely. The protocols are still in place and therefore you have to have a legal status for any such law that is implemented,” said Mitchell, who also holds the ministerial portfolio of National Security.
“The present situation is we need it until a vaccine is found,I don’t see us removing it.”
In mid-March 2020, Grenada laboratory confirmed its first case which was an imported case from the United Kingdom and within days the State of Emergency was declared with a 24 hours curfew.
As of mid-July, Grenada tested more than 3,000 persons for the virus. There have been 23 confirmed cases which have been declared medically recovered and there were no deaths. The island currently has no active case.
Grenada first declared 21 day- State of Emergency in March and on April 17, 2020, members of both the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament approved to extend it for six months.
Since then, there is continuous weekly or fortnightly renewal of the Emergency regulations.
The current regulation is scheduled to expire on August 5.
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