(Trinidad Express) - The country is on track to reopen its borders to scheduled flights by mid-July.

And if all goes well, the construction sector will reopen two Mondays from now, along with hardware stores and the manufacturing industries that support it.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley this afternoon made these disclosures after the country was given an update on the measures meant to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus and decrease the numbers of deaths.

The rate of new positive cases and hospital occupancy appear to have plateaued, and as a result, Rowley said that next weekend would likely be the last time the country would have an extended 19 hour curfew beginning at 7p.m. Friday.

He said that Caribbean Airlines (CAL) had met with the respective Ministry and authorities and scheduled service into Trinidad would begin in the second week of July. He said that vaccinated travellers and unvaccinated travellers would have different protocols and details regarding this would be disclosed during the course of the week. He said the border reopening meant that Trinidad and Tobago would be exposed to the Delta-variant of the Covid-19 virus since many of the travellers would be coming from North America.

A large number of construction workers have taken the first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine, giving them some level of immunity. Rowley said that as more people are vaccinated, it was hoped that by mid-September or the end of September, children would be called back to schools.

However, all of this could change, based on the numbers of deaths and cases.

Rowley said he was amazed that the average citizen was still not behaving responsibly, and that he had observed people standing in lines to pay WASA bills or to get into a supermarket “standing on someone else’s shoulder.”

He said “you complete forgot that there is something you have to do to save your life.”