On March 23, 2020, the government began closing its borders to minimize the impact and effects of the COVID-19 virus which was known to be an imported virus. However, at the end of the day, we were able to contain and crush the COVID-19 virus in a relatively short period of time of two months.
COVID-19 Cases
To date, 461 persons have been tested and of the 77 positive cases, 60 have recovered. Notably, St. Maarten has had only one positive case in the last 33 days, and no new cases in the last 20 days which is almost three weeks. Presently, there are two active cases on St. Maarten. In the coming days, St. Maarten is expected to be free of COVID-19. We are slowly allowing residents and visitors to re-enter under very strict conditions.
EOC De-activation
In a full EOC meeting held yesterday, Friday, May 29, together with some members of the Council of Ministers and key ESF coordinators, it was decided to de-activate the EOC as de-escalation, as this has come full force we have not had to backtrack at any time thus far and phase 3 has now started today.
The Council of Ministers have been diligently preparing for the recovery stage for some time now and will continue to build upon the exceptional work of the EOC and their support teams who as they of course form part of the mistrial teams as well. We must move from our disaster mode to recovery mode. A multi-disciplinary group from the EOC will also continue to remain available to the Council of Ministers should they require additional advice. As you know the guidelines have been put forth and approved and will continue to be looked at in terms of feasibility and applicability as we move forward.
Changes to Phase 3 of the Ministerial Regulation May 29, 2020 No. 2020/0324
The EOC advised and the Council of Ministers decided that movement should be allowed on Saturday, May 30, 2020, and that the curfew hours be adjusted from 11:00 PM until 5:00 AM. Additionally, businesses will be allowed to open on Sunday as well in accordance with the Ministerial Regulation signed on May 29, 2020, 0324 implementing the changes to Phase 3 which now begins today Saturday, May 30, 2020. I know many woke up wondering, but we had to make sure in publishing it first, which was published today, and now everyone is aware that Saturday and Sundays are now open days as well.
I believe that we have learned some key messages from this experience and naturally, it has revealed some secrets to success for any future developments. We have learned that going forward we ALL, as a community, must plan and prepare for the future, and we know now we are facing the start of the hurricane season. So, preparations will be key to our survival. The government is, therefore, encouraging our Private Sector to take the initiative and lead to looking for ways to produce locally and/or export the goods made in St. Maarten or export services. We really would like to see that we can reopen our economy and still maintain a COVID-19 free St. Maarten. Let us continue this great work that we have done over the past three months and continue to stay COVID-19 free.