ANGUILLA
TEMPORARY UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT (theanguillian.com). The government of Anguilla has announced an immediate benefit pay-out for people whose employment has been affected by the Covid-19 virus. For the unemployed, this will consist of an initial payment of EC$1000 and monthly thereafter; there will also be financial support for the underemployed. There are two reported active cases on the island.
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA
LOCKDOWN CONTINUES BUT WITH GREATER FREEDOMS (antiguaobserver.com) The government has announced a further week’s extension of the curfew, which will run until midnight on 23 April. However, businesses such as hardware stores, mechanics and ships’ chandleries will be allowed to operate and residents will be able to ‘walk, jog and run outside’ between 7.00am and 12pm with a maximum of one companion. This is in a bid to alleviate ‘mental stress’ caused by the 24-hour curfew. The twin-island state has reported 17 cases of the Covid-19 virus.
BAHAMAS
BAN ON IMPORT OF NON-MEDICAL MASKS ANNOUNCED (opm.gov.bs) Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has announced that the import of non-medical protective face masks will be banned ‘to protect the local mask manufacturing industry that has sprung up overnight as a result of the Covid-19 virus.’ Under the Emergency Powers Act, all citizens must wear a mask when away from home. In an attempt to avoid queues outside grocery stores, the hours of opening have been extended to the general public until 10.00pm. Health officials claim that the lockdown, especially over the Easter weekend, has resulted in fewer than expected new cases of the Covid-19 virus although the figures are expected to increase as testing expands. There are currently 39 reported active cases with nine deaths.
BARBADOS
CORONAVIRUS INADVERTENTLY FIGHTING CRIME (barbadostoday.bb). Barbados has recorded a 13% drop in crime so far this year. Deputy Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce attributed much of the decline to the national curfew. Over the same period last year, the total number of reported crimes was 2,285 compared to 1,998 this year. According to the various categories of crime, there were 206 residential burglaries this year compared to 289 last year, with a 21% fall in commercial burglaries. Boyce noted that there have been 10 murders so far this year, compared to 20 for the corresponding period last year. ‘There was a 19% decline in rapes which represent 13 cases this year as against 19 last year,’ he said. Barbados currently has 55 active cases of Covid-19.
BONAIRE and STATIA
BONAIRE RECORDS FIRST CASE (bes-reporter.com). Bonaire has reported its first known case of the coronavirus. The person who tested positive has mild symptoms and is not seen as being a high-risk case. Governor Edison Rijna said that the person in question had been in contact with someone from Aruba who tested positive. Rijna explained that because there is an understanding into the origin of the case and the contacts, it is not necessary to proceed to a lock-down. Alongside Bonaire’s one case, there are two active cases on Statia.
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
‘NO NEED FOR EXTENSION OF CURRENT 14-DAY LOCKDOWN’ (bvinewsonline). Premier Andrew Fahie announced on Wednesday 15 April that the existing 24-hour lockdown would not be continued beyond 19 April and would be replaced by a night-time curfew to run until 1 June. He said that there would be ‘a six-week gradual and safe re-opening [of businesses] that would be carefully managed.’ Beaches, however, would remain closed. A shipment of medical supplies to help the BVI fight the Covid-19 pandemic that had been held up by the US customs has now been released and is due to arrive in the BVI ‘shortly’. The British Overseas Territory has reported two current cases.
CAYMAN ISLANDS
COVID-19 CRISIS PUTS BUSINESSES IN DIRE STRAIGHTS (caymaniantimes.com) Following government support for taxi drivers and tour operators in the face of the Covid-19 virus pandemic, the government has announced that small businesses can apply for low-interest loans, technical assistance, training and grants. The Cayman Islands has 53 active cases.
CUBA
CUBA COLLABORATES WITH COVID-19 EXPERTS FROM GUYANA, GAMBIA AND LESOTHO (plenglish.com). Experts from the Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute in Cuba have recently shared information with colleagues and authorities in Guyana, Gambia and Lesotho as part of collaborative actions to confront the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez. In addition to health collaboration with some 60 nations, the Caribbean island has sent 21 brigades of the International Contingent of Doctors Specialised in Disaster Situations and Serious Epidemics to 21 countries worldwide. Cuba has recorded 700 active cases of Covid-19.
CURACAO
70 ARRESTED SINCE MEASURES INTRODUCED (curacaochronicle.com). According to Minister of Justice Quincy Girigorie, the police have stopped approximately 16,000 drivers since the first measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 were introduced on 18 March. Of these, 14,000 had the right to be on the road and were able to continue their way, but 2,000 were out on the street for no reason. Police officers have so far issued just over 100 fines and have arrested 70 people. Curacao has recorded three active cases of Covid-19.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ARRESTS OVER 34,000 CURFEW BREAKERS (dominicantoday.com). More than 34,000 people have been arrested nationwide since the government established a curfew as one of the measures intended to impede the spread of the coronavirus, according to Gustavo Montalvo, president of the High-Level Commission for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus. He also said that a large number of police officers and soldiers have been deployed both on the streets and in commercial establishments to enforce the curfew and social distancing. The Dominican Republic has recorded 3,658 active cases of Covid-19.
GRENADA
NO APPROVAL GIVEN TO RECOMMENCE COMMERCIAL PASSENGER FLIGHTS (nowgrenada.com). Tourism Minister Clarice Modestehas denied reports that an international airline will be resuming flights to Grenada as of 7 May. ‘There has been no approval for any flights bringing in people at this time. This will be carefully researched, and we will depend on the healthcare professionals to guide us in this matter,’she said. The only flights currently permitted are those with medical supplies and medical personnel. However, the airport recently accommodated several flights to allow passengers who are citizens of the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom to return home. Grenada has recorded eight active cases of Covid-19.
HAITI
HAITI DECLARES EARLY VICTORY OVER CORONAVIRUS (miamiherald.com). Haiti’s new prime minister, Joseph Jouthe, has declared an early victory over Covid-19 and has announced that the country will be re-opening textile factories next week. The government will also decide whether to extend or end the state of emergency that was imposed on 20 March. Instead of going the way of most countries in the region, which are enforcing lockdowns and strict social distancing measures in anticipation of more infections and deaths, Jouthe simply called for the use of masks. Haiti has so far recorded 40 active cases of Covid-19.
JAMAICA
COVID CLOSES HEALTH MINISTRY (jamaica-gleaner.com) The head offices of the Ministry of Health and Wellness have been ordered to close after an employee tested positive for Covid-19. Health Minister Christopher Tufton and Permanent Secretary Dunstan Bryan both tested negative; however Bryan is to remain in quarantine because he was a contact of the positive patient. It is not known how the patient contracted the disease. Jamaica has currently 113 active cases.
MARTINIQUE
MARTINIQUE PROSTITUTES GET CORONAVIRUS FOOD PACKAGES (la1ere.francetvinfo.fr) Prostitutes in Fort-de-France and Lamentin have received more than 100 baskets of food and hygiene necessities donated by humanitarian charities in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The support will continue weekly. Martinique has 77 active cases.
PUERTO RICO
PUERTO RICO MAYORS WORK TO FIGHT COVID-19 WITH FEW TESTS AVAILABLE (nbcnews.com). ‘If I don’t know who is infected, I’m never going to be able to combat this pandemic,’ Rafael Surillo, Mayor of Yabucoa, has said. Mayors of towns across Puerto Rico are facing the same uncertainty as they grapple with the fallout of what has been described as a ‘botched effort’ from the island’s government to purchase at least one million coronavirus testing kits, worth $38 million, at a time when the US territory has the lowest per-capita testing rate compared with any state. In the central mountainous town of Cayey, Mayor Rolando Ortiz reported that his municipality is ‘not doing tests here because the government has them very limited.He said, ‘I’ve found out about cases here because the people have my phone number and they call me up when they know something.’ Puerto Rico has reported 1,006 active cases of Covid-19.
ST LUCIA
ST LUCIA WON’T REOPEN AUTOMATICALLY (stlucianewsonline.com) Prime Minister Allen Chastanet has addressed concerns about his planned phased reopening of Saint Lucia. He said that, although the current partial shutdown expires on 26 April, this does not mean that the country will automatically be reopened.‘Whilst we are hoping to announce a phased reopening after this date, there are still several other factors which we must take into consideration before this is done. One of these will obviously be whether any new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded on the island, as well as the advice and recommendations given by the chief medical officer and officials from the Ministry of Health,’he said. St Lucia has recorded four active cases.
ST VINCENT
NO VAT AND 15% DISCOUNT ON ENERGY (news784.com). St Vincent electricity company, VINLEC, has announced a moratorium on disconnection of electricity service to customers whose accounts were not in arrears by more than 60 days before 20 March. A 15% discount on the basic energy charge on all electricity accounts will also be applied for the months of April, May and June. Furthermore, no VAT will be applied to electricity accounts for domestic customers, hotels and guest houses for the same three months, and VINLEC will waiver the reconnection fee for all customers whose accounts were previously disconnected. SVG has recorded 11 active cases of Covid-19.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
121 PRISONERS RELEASED EARLY (newsday.co.tt) One hundred and twenty-one prisoners have already been released early, with more than 900 further prisoners due to be released before the end of their sentences. The measure is a response to tackle prison overcrowding during the Covid-19 pandemic. Among those eligible for early release are those convicted of summary offences with less than one year to serve, those serving a less than one-year sentence and those who were granted bail, including children, but could not access it. Meanwhile Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh said, on Friday 17 April, the public ‘should not even be contemplating raising any victory flag…The virus is there waiting to strike the minute and the day we drop our guard.’ Trinidad & Tobago has reported 86 active cases.
It would seem from the numbers in the Chart that Dominica is doing the best among its Caribbean neighbours in warding off Covid-19. No other Caribbean island state has been able to achieve this significant reduction in numbers. We have gone from a grand total of 16 cases to a mere eight cases, that is a fifty percent reduction. This is so inspite our Caribbean neighbours continuing to have a slow increase. We are indeed happy for that decline in active cases. I was one for5 example who believed that once Covid got to Dominica, it would completely wipe out our homeland, I am happy to accept that thus far I have been wrong. Though the trajectory is moving in the right direction, this is no time to relax. We must continue to build on our good work and eliminate this scourge from our society.
We have learnt of Chinese Racism against our black brothers, we must keep this in mind. I am not calling for an outright attack against Chinese but we must understand the significance.
I have read through all of the featured stories about the coronavirus pandemic and there had been no feature on Dominica .Was this deliberate, doesn’t Dominica have patients with the virus.
ADMIN: This is a roundup of regional news stories, DNO already brings you local COVID-19 stories on a continuing basis.
The Chinese Communist Party has only one objective, that is to rule the world. They will do anything to achieve this goal, including killing and imprisoning millions of Chinese citizens. If they will kill their own people for this, don’t you think they would be willing to kill others also? The Dominican Gov’t. keep talking about their “friendship” with the ccp. I have never heard of friendship being bought, but it is money and “gifts” that have bamboozled this group of black leaders. And talking of black? if the cabal here has such a strong friendship, why are they not standing up for our fellow blacks that are suffering ill-treatment in china right now? The ccp should be made to pay for this madness they have brought upon us all, and if the gov’t. here does not understand, ask Ecuador, and Malaysia, and various African countries. For all we know, we may already be living in a chinese province.