Puerto Rico to lift pandemic curfew, ban on alcohol sales

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor has announced that he will be lifting a curfew and a ban on alcohol sales as the U.S. territory reports a drop in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Current restrictions prohibit certain businesses from operating between midnight and 5 a.m. and also bar alcohol sales during that time. Those two measures will be lifted Thursday. However, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said Tuesday that other restrictions, including an indoors mask requirement, remain in place. He notes that 70% of the island’s 3.3 million people are vaccinated. Puerto Rico has reported more than 150,500 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 3,000 deaths from COVID-19.