WILLEMSTAD - The government of Curaçao has submitted an emergency aid request of almost 700 million guilders to the Netherlands, to help absorb the worst impact of the coronavirus on the island.

More than half of this is intended 300 million guilders in the 'emergency package for jobs, the economy and social resilience'.

Without an early capital injection, up to 60 percent of the Curaçao population will be unemployed, according to Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath. The island that relies heavily on tourism revenues - nearly a third of its gross national product - closed its borders for a period of at least two weeks last week Monday. According to Rhuggenaath, the island's economy has come to a standstill more or less. At least 73,000 people on the island work directly or indirectly in tourism. That is almost half of the total population of Curaçao.

Curaçao Minister of Social Affairs Hensley Koeiman promised every resident who lost his or her job after March 15 a compensation of 1,000 Antillean guilders per month. Last Sunday Curaçao experienced a 24-hour lockdown, for the first time in the history of the islands. The island already had a curfew. With the exception of hospital staff and people working in other essential sectors, no one was allowed to take to the streets on Sunday.

So far, thirteen people have been tested positive for Covid-19. Five of them have recovered from the disease. One person died.