Bouterse puts ball in nation’s court

President Desi Bouterse on Saturday eased the lockdown measures. Although the number of COVID-19 cases keeps rising and officials expect more people to die because of COVID-19, the government deemed it time to give the people some room to breathe. “The ball is now in your court. Our own responsibility will be the decisive factor now,” said the head of state. The curfew will once again be in effect from 8 pm until 5 am. “Companies and organizations can once again stick to their normal business hours as long as they stick to social distancing, hand washing and surgical masks. Everybody must be back home at 8 pm,” said President Bouterse who added that hotels, casinos, places of worship, markets with roofs, brothels, bars and sports schools must remain closed. Restaurants are allowed to resume their pickup and delivery services. Customers are not allowed to consume their food and drinks in the restaurants. The residents at retirement homes and children’s homes are only allowed to welcome one visitor per day. People and goods can once again be transported via air under strict guidelines. The gathering ban of more than five people remains in place. “The government has taken the maximum measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible. But the ugly truth is that quarantine and isolation capacity are reaching their peak. Health experts indicate that the infection numbers will keep rising. Unfortunately that leads us to conclude that the number of deaths will also increase. We are heading towards a new phase.”