DILI, 24 august 2021 (TATOLI) – Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak informed that Timor-Leste needs a renewed commitment to mobilize the people and the nation to fight against the Covid1-19.
“I called on all entities to renew our efforts to make significant progress in the fight against COVID-19. This enemy of Covid-19 threatens the life of our children and our loved ones,” Ruak made the comments in his speech during the discussion of the renewal of the state of emergency, at the National Parliament, on tuesday.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost their lives and their families and loved ones. Our firm determination is to continue combating this pandemic as it threatens the future of our family. Therefore, I humbly request the member of the national parliament to take for consideration the proposal for the renewal of the state of emergency,” said Ruak.
Ruak informed that the one-month extension of the state of emergency will allow the government to impose necessary restrictions – border closures, sanitary fences, mandatory quarantine, social and physical distancing, wearing masks, and washing hands regularly.
He said the collaboration of the government with the internal and external entities was important to combat the Covid-19: “The government alone will not defeat this pandemic. We all play our part in combating this enemy. We need to practice good health habits daily.”
Ruak said due to the current situation, all people must remain vigilant, saying the nation must prepare itself and plan to recover the situation back to normal to recover the economy, and restoring the sociocultural.
The current situation poses a new threat to the nation as the cases of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 are detected daily in neighboring countries Indonesia and Australia.
“We have enough vaccines to cover all of our eligible population to be vaccinated. Sooner, the Pfizer vaccines will arrive in Timor-Leste and all of our young people between the ages of 12 and 17 will get vaccinated with these vaccines.” Ruak stressed.
He affirmed that vaccines are the only way to prevent and combat the severe Covid-19 cases, saying the government will continue its vaccination campaign to get all population vaccinated.
“Of the 754.864 eligible groups, 49.1 percent had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, of which 23.0 percent have also received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Thus, by the end of 2021, the majority of our population will be vaccinated, as a result, their immunity will be increased up to 80 percent to resist against the COVID-19,” said Ruak.
Prime Minister thanked Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, COVAX Facility, and the Humanitarian Agencies, including United Nations for supporting the Covid-19 vaccines to Timor-Leste – both AstraZeneca and Sinovac.
“We greatly appreciate your support and generosity for supporting Timor-Leste, when it faced tough times as the socio-economic of this nation was severely impacted by the Covid-19 and the recent calamity,” added Ruak.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
