President George M. Weah has extended the “Stay Home” order by additional two weeks aimed at curtailing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.On Friday, May 22, he instructed the entire citizenry to be indoors at 6:00 P.M., instead of the previous 3:00 P.M mandate.
In an Executive Mansion release, President Weah said that the easing of measures became necessary in light of the new global reality and the advice of local health authorities.
According to the Liberian Leader, under the updated guidelines, restaurants, stores selling food commodities, dry goods, building materials and electronic appliances, will be allowed to open provided if they take in 25% of their full occupancy at a time while observing social distancing.
President Weah has also instructed the joint security to enforce the mandatory wearing of masks in all public spaces and ensure full compliance. The government will take the appropriate legal action in cases of violation of any of these measures.
The release further quoted President Weah as saying that the new measures will be assessed again in the near future in order to determine their effectiveness and the need for further easing – given the urgency of opening up the economy so that possible shocks from the global pandemic can be mitigated.
President Weah in his EM release also stated that the preservation of lives remains the foremost priority of his administration, so any future decisions will be made with that in full consideration, and stressed, “All other measures and protocols previously announced remain in place.”
Meanwhile, the Liberian leader has named the Ministry of Labour as exempt and instructed the Minister to designate essential staff to report to work immediately, while at the same time calls for the usual cooperation of the general public as the country grapples with the enormous threats that the virus poses.
In a related development, the country’s COVID-19 deaths have now swelled to 26 as of Friday, May 22, 2020, with 136 recoveries and 93 active or alive cases, as the total confirmed cases has now skyrocketed to 255.