Will Antigua and Barbuda end Curfew?

    The hot question everyone has to ask. Will Antigua and Barbuda finally end curfew. The curfew first started when Coronavirus, most popularly known as Covid- 19 first came to the country. The country went into temporary lock down and had a time curfew on when you could be out the house. There was a 12 noon, 6pm, 8pm and 11pm curfew. These curfew time kept changing and the state of emergency kept extending. The country has not been out of a curfew since early 2020 and now is the end of 2021. The Honorable Prime Minister Gaston Browne put out a statement saying that we will be opening the country and ending the curfew as of December 23, 2021, just a few days shy of Christmas. Then, here comes work of a new Covid variant from Africa and we get another statement from the prime minister stating that due to the new variant they are considered postponing the lift of the curfew. 

    Do I think that the curfew will be lifted? No. I think even though the government wants to open up the country and get the economy flowing fully again they like the keep the countries population tied down at home. Why I think this? In my opinion the curfew at this point makes absolutely no sense. The currant curfew time is 11pm. Places that provide forms of entertainment and outings are open, supermarkets are open for anyone to come. Also, Antigua and Barbuda are a customer service based business island. Any and anybody is able to walk into businesses to do what it is they came to do. Some businesses, especially recovering ones do not ask if you are vaccinated or not, they just want the money. As long as you have on a mask then you are free to enter and do business. Furthermore, most people work in businesses that house large amounts of employees. With all of this going on is the curfew an effective means to protect the country? In my opinion.... No.