BELIZE CITY, Mon. June 29, 2020– Appearing on the government’s webcast Ask the Experts this afternoon, Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte said that as of June 30, the State of Emergency will end, but it’s still not a free-for-all, because new measures under the Quarantine Act will come into effect the following day, Wednesday, July 1.

The Statutory Instrument that will give legal effect to the rules under the Quarantine Act will be signed by the minister before July 1.

Everything will be opened up, but the Attorney General emphasized that our land borders will remain closed indefinitely.

Since the borders are closed, if you enter the country, you are committing an offense; it doesn’t matter if you are a Belizean; you will be imprisoned for up to 3 months.

Peyrefitte stressed that there will be no more curfews, but that does not mean that you can be wandering about. There are other laws that come into effect under the Quarantine Act.

So come July 1, he said, we will not become a lawless society. There are certain laws that we will enforce now. Going forward to July 1, two things will be implemented – social distancing—6 feet apart, and you must wear you masks. You must wear your masks anytime you are in public. We will be enforcing that, Peyrefitte said.

Peyrefitte explained that when you are exercising or playing sports, you don’t have to wear a mask.

However, “If you are at a club and you want to kiss someone, remove your mask and kiss the person, and put back on your mask,” he said.

Peyrefitte added that the social distancing rules still apply at all business places. BPO’s must follow the protocols set down by the Ministry of Health. If you are traveling on public transportation, you must wear your mask.

There are no more limits to the amount of people that can gather, but you must wear your mask, Peyrefitte expressed, but the penalty for not adhering to the regulations is $5,000.