 That's what this government is all about, Mr. Speaker. Hello and welcome to another installment of Parliament Roundup. My name is Jesse Layance. In its first sessions of the year, members of the Honourable House approved the declaration of a state of emergency in St. Lucia for a further period of 90 days, commencing from 11th February to 16th May 2021. This accompanied by a curfew, a 10-hour curfew of 7pm to 5am. Petitioned by Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shastney in the House, the declaration he believes will buttress the COVID-19 prevention and control legislation. He told the Lower House that recent analysis indicates that over 55% of the persons who contracted COVID-19 are between the ages of 25 to 49 years old. Contact tracing data also discovered that most cases and their contacts were involved in breaches in the social sector, hence the institution of the curfew at night time. Whilst over the last few weeks we have pulled back and limited social activities, there is still mounting evidence of social events taking place, especially in the evenings at private locations. This is among the biggest threat in our fight against COVID-19, and hence the need for the curfew, which now will allow the police to better manage and contain these illegal activities by restricting movements at those times. The Prime Minister adds that the curfew, which can only be instituted under a state of emergency, will assist contact tracing operations by reducing the movement of persons. Opposition Member, Parliamentary Representative for Cass Street's South Honourable Dr. Ernest Hiller contended that the COVID-19 prevention and control legislation on its own was sufficient to address breaches in the social sector. Honourable Dr. Hiller also questioned whether the overnight curfew was best, as he says people gather and interact more during the day. Honourable Chasne did share his sentiment that the COVID-19 prevention and control legislation has robust measures to mobilize the national response. However, he says compliance to these measures remains a challenge, and St. Lucia is at a critical juncture, having to cull its highest infection rates to date, whilst approaching another holiday period, Easter. The Prime Minister asserts that a curfew, whether increased or reduced, must be permissible at this time, as it has been proven to work in the past. The COVID-19 Act that we put in place has served us well. But sadly, given the inability to cause persons to adhere fully to the protocols we're putting in place, and the breaches that are obvious to all of us, it is necessary for us to be here today. It's certainly my government's intention to continue to be guided by the evidence. And as we see the numbers coming down, Mr. Speaker, and we recognize that the COVID Prevention Act can continue to contain the situation, then we will suspend the state of emergency. Along with the State of Emergency Parliament also approved amendments to the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Act. Protocols that guide physical distancing, business sector operations, and physical closure of schools have also been legislated. And these expire on the 16th of February 2021. Parliament has also signed off on the suspension of alcohol sales, and this expires on the 24th of February. Quarantine facilities in VG Castries and Rodney Bay-Groselle have been approved for reinstatement. The rapid antigen test has been inserted into the legislation alongside the PCR for COVID-19 testing in St. Lucia. And while the PCR test remains free, the rapid antigen test will cost no more than EC$100. A list of five laboratories designated to carry out the antigen test have also been included. And they are the Laboratory Services and Consultation Services Limited, Microlab Inc., Global Clinical Laboratories, Descartes Laboratory, and Alpha and Omega Laboratory Services. In the meantime, the Forensic Lab will be assisting the Owen King EU Hospital to process the backlog of PCR tests. The minister responsible for the institution says the government is exploring all its options to address chinks in the COVID-19 response. Last time we were here, advice was given to us that we use some of the private labs. The private labs are being used. Pressure has been placed on us because returning nationals to their countries now have to get the PCR tests. So additional problems arose. We are now going to be using the Forensic Lab. And the Forensic Lab will be functional from Friday to be able to do some of the PCR tests first. So we are trying. That was Senator the Honourable Herman Gill-Francis. A reduced quarantine fees for returning nationals have also been approved. A single occupancy, which was US$95, is now reduced to US$25. Double occupancy, which was US$160, is now reduced to US$45. And triple occupancy, which was US$240, is now reduced to US$65. Double and triple occupancy applies to families within the same unit. The daily fees cover the cost of a bed and bathroom, air conditioning, Wi-Fi, three meals a day, toiletries and bottled water. The government will continue to honour requests for exemptions for returning students within three months of completion of studies and also to individuals who have travelled for medical care. And the government will also consider the dire circumstances of persons including the forced repatriation of nationals. A travel requirements have also been adjusted in the legislation and prior to travelling into St. Lucia individuals must now have taken a test and have a negative result for that test five days before arrival instead of the previous seven days. Minister for Health and Wellness and Leader of Government Business in the Upper House, Senator the Honourable Mary Isaac explains. The five days that we are requiring, it is making the test more valid and more reliable, more dependable than the seven days that we were requiring before. Because of the spike, Madam President, we have decided and based on the technocrats' advice, we have decided to tighten the space between the time that the people take the test and the time that they show up on our shores. So we are just ensuring that we have a test that is more valid than the seven-day test. A Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate, Senator Gibyan-Ferdinand expressed concern that there was insufficient basis for the adjustment to pre-testing. Even if we do not believe that we should move from seven days to five days or from seven days to any number of days, there is a trend of thought from all of the practices that all countries are trying to reduce or to minimise the period between the time the test was taken and the time the visitor arrives at your shores. In some countries they have decided to test upon arrival and in some countries they have gone to three days like I mentioned. We have decided to move from seven to five. It's not just a statistical move, Madam President. There has to be something upon which this is predicated. Senator Hon. Isaac clarified that the reduced pre-testing period will increase the validity of the negative test as there have been instances of arrivals testing negative seven days before travel and contracting the virus during that time gap indicates that the five-day pre-testing will be subject to review after assessment. Why I said we will wait and see what happens is because we are instituting the five days but when our diaspora, people in our diaspora get here and they express the issues that they are having you may well see that we have to move to another measure where we may start having to test when people get here as opposed to just requiring a five-day test but this is very fluid Madam President so I did not want to go into all of what the technocrats are looking at when we try to put measures in place to control the virus. And finally Parliament also approved the value added tax concessions for February and March 2021 on imported barrels that carry personal items food, clothing, toys and other household consumables Independent Senator Mauricio Thomas-Francis commended this initiative and used the opportunity to highlight the continued remittances and other resources that seclutions in the diaspora send back home despite their own challenges in this pandemic. The barrel concession is very useful because it provides much-needed help to St. Lucien that are struggling and cannot make ends meet to actually take care of their basic needs. We need to be very, very thankful and not to take for granted the assistance that families receive from the diaspora. And that was independent Senator Mauricio Thomas-Francis there. Well, we've come to the end of another edition of Parliament Roundup for the Parliamentary Proceedings on the 9th and 10th of February 2021. My name is Jesse Leos signing off. Do stay tuned for more NTN programming. Goodbye.