UNC: Reopen the economy, teach us to live with virus

OPPOSITION Senator Wade Mark wants the government to reopen the economy.

The call was made during a virtual press conference hosted by the Opposition on Sunday.

Mark said the public was left with a great burden and asked to make sacrifices to reduce the covid19 cases and deaths.

He said this caused significant damage to the economy and the livelihoods of many.

“We need to reopen the economy of our country, taking into consideration all safety protocols and measures. The opposition has been, for the last few months, clamouring and articulating advocating for the complete reopening of our economy because we are not only concerned with saving lives, but we are also concerned about saving livelihoods.”

On Saturday, Prime Minister announced the lifting of restrictions, some beginning on Monday. Restaurants and other food establishments will be allowed to operate curbside and take-away service from July 19, while outdoor excercising in groups of five will also be allowed then.

Manufacturing and car dealerships are allowed to operate from Monday. On July 3, Dr Rowley reopened the construction sector and laundromats.

“By announcing yesterday (Saturday) that sectors will be allowed to reopen is a bit late because so many citizens have lost their jobs. So many citizens have been sunk into deeper depths of poverty or deeper levels of starvation and malnutrition simply because they have not been working,"

Mark renewed the Opposition’s call for a smooth and continuous vaccination process. He said the Government cannot be praised for the expected arrival of an additional 800,000 Sinopharm vaccines from China, because the virus has already done too much harm.

“Our position has always been that we need to vaccinate the population, but the Government fell down on the job. When the Government ought to have been negotiating in the various boardrooms, whether it was with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, whether it had to do with Johnson and Johnson, or Moderna, as the Israeli did in 2020.

“The government was really slow, and of course the country paid, and continues to pay a very high price for the Government's incompetence and mismanagement of this whole vaccination exercise.

"Our leader has articulated this policy position that covid19 is a virus that we may have to be living with for a considerable period of time in the future. Therefore, we must put in necessary protocols and safety measures in terms of health in place by, first of all, vaccinating our population and observing the protocols.”