One final extension

The government will seek one final approval from Parliament to extend the state of emergency in The Bahamas, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis announced last night, adding that he will today table a draft copy of the Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Management Bill, 2021, to replace the emergency orders.

Minnis said he had hoped to end the state of emergency this month and replace it with a new legislative framework as more Bahamians became vaccinated. 

The current state of emergency expires on Friday.

However, Minnis said that as COVID cases exploded in recent weeks, he was forced to adjust his plans.

“This will be the last extension of these orders,” he said during a national address.

“After approval by Parliament, I can announce that the emergency orders will end, at the very latest, November 13, 2021.

“Tomorrow, I will table in the House of Assembly for consultation, the new proposed legal regime for The Bahamas, with the end of the emergency orders.

“We will table for widespread public consultation, the Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Management Bill, 2021.

“Let me emphasize that this is only a draft. It is not the final bill. We will table it for consultation because we want your advice and your feedback.

“We seek the advice of the official opposition. We would like the input of the religious community, businesses, NGOs, labor unions, other organizations, and individuals, so we can make the legislation more representative before final passage and enactment. Again, I emphasize that the bill is being tabled for consultation.”

The House of Assembly was not set to meet again until September 22. 

After a surge in COVID cases, deaths, and hospitalizations, the House was called back early to consider the extension to the state of emergency.

The House will meet tomorrow to allow for debate and passage of the resolution set to be tabled today.

The Senate will also meet today at 3 p.m. to table the resolution and will convene on Thursday to debate and pass it.

So far, over 800 new COVID cases have been recorded in August. Last month, over 2,100 new cases were confirmed, the most in any month so far this year.

With rising cases and hospitalizations, health officials have said that the three major hospitals in the country are at capacity. As of August 8, 129 people were hospitalized with COVID. 

To combat the increase, Minnis last night announced new curfew hours on Exuma (10 p.m. to 5 a.m.), Abaco (10 p.m. to 5 a.m.), New Providence and Paradise Island (9 p.m. to 5 a.m.) and Grand Bahama (9 p.m. to 5 a.m.).

The new curfew takes effect tomorrow.

North and South Eleuthera, including Harbour Island, will continue to have a curfew of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. 

The prime minister also announced that the government concluded negotiations to bring in a substantial number of new vaccine doses into the country.

“Along with these new doses and the vaccine supply we already received, over the next few months, we will have the capacity to vaccinate all Bahamians and residents who wish to receive the vaccine,” he said, urging Bahamians to get the shot.

A state of emergency was first declared in March 2020, when the country recorded its first case of COVID.

The state of emergency empowers the competent authority, defined in law as the prime minister, to make various emergency orders to safeguard the country.

Since the first emergency proclamation, the competent authority has ordered the closure of non-essential businesses, the border, and imposed social distancing measures, stay-at-home orders, curfews, mask-wearing, mandatory COVID testing for travelers, and weekend lockdowns.

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