At midnight tonight, upon the expiration of the current COVID directive, a new COVID directive will be put in place and will last until January 31.
This new directive will be very much the same as the previous recent directives, in that there will be a curfew from midnight each night until 5:00 a.m., the following morning.
There will be one exception to that rule, however. On election night, there will be no curfew at all. The rationale behind this really draws from the history of our last experience on election night, where voting was considerably delayed until well into the hours of the next morning.
And in addition to that, with our COVID numbers rising it is difficult to predict what might happen on election night, in relation to the slowing down of various processes.
And therefore, we feel it best, having considered all of the scenarios, to leave the way clear for the Electoral and Boundaries Commission to do their work properly and unrushed, taking as much time as is necessary without running afoul of the directives.
So, the directives continue from tonight midnight until January 31, and the exception to the curfew is election night.
Click the link to download the most recent directives, Emergency Management (COVID-19) (Curfew), Directive 2022. The Directive covers the period from Friday, January 7th, 2022 and expires on Monday, January 31st, 2022.
There shall be no curfew during the following period:
- From midnight on the 19th day of January, 2022 to 5:00 a.m. on the 20th day of January, 2022.