As he moved a Motion to extend the State of Emergency by three months in the Parliament this afternoon, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said he believed this action had become necessary due the population becoming relaxed in the fight against the virus, triggering the current third wave.

Dr. Keith said his government is committed to making the stringent decisions required to protect the population from widespread Covid-19 infections and said it was quick intervention since cases began rising in April, that prevented a far worse outcome.

“We would certainly have the kinds of traumatic results of large numbers of dead people, larger numbers of sick people and none of it would have been to the benefit of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Because a three month extension requires a simple majority, government has the power to have the Motion passed, extending the SoE until August 30th. 

As pointed out by the Prime Minister over the weekend however, that if Covid-19 cases are significantly reduced in a shorter timeframe, government would end the SoE before the three months is up.

According to Section 10 (3) of the Constitution, “The proclamation (of the SoE) may be revoked at any time by a simple majority vote of the House of Representatives.”