COVID-19: Regional Round-up (8 May, 2020)

ANGUILLA

ANGUILLA’S GOVERNMENT LIFTS RESTRICTIONS ON MOVEMENT (theanguillian.com) All regulations restricting movement and gatherings were removed on 29 April. Testing had shown, according to an announcement by Governor Tim Foy and Premier Victor Banks, that there were no active or suspected cases of Covid-19 in Anguilla. However, they asked that everyone should continue to practice social distancing.

ANTIGUA & BARBUDA

HOSPITALITY EMPLOYEES TO RECEIVE SECOND ROUND OF CARE PACKAGES (antiguaobserver.com) Some 3,000 care packages will have been distributed to laid-off hospitality sector workers by the Antigua and Barbuda Hotels and Tourism Association (ABHTA) and the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU) by the end of this week. Jumby Bay, one of the main hotel properties on Antigua, has also delivered some 1,000 food parcels, to last 28 days, to needy families. It has also put in place work schedules to retain as many of its staff as possible. Antigua & Barbuda has six active cases.

BAHAMAS

WANTED: 12 MISSING FROM QUARANTINE (tribune242.com) Ministry of Health officials cannot find 12 people who were in quarantine. Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan admitted: ‘We get addresses, contact numbers…At times the address may not be exact, those phone contacts may not be listed.’ The missing dozen are among less than 250 currently in-home quarantine. As one online comment had it: ‘You kno man dem always giving the cops wrong name an address, quarantine just like getting lock up in a way, so wa make yall tink dey wasnt gone do the sammmeeeeeeee ting?’ The penalty for breaking quarantine rules is a fine of up to US$20,000 or up to five years’ imprisonment. The number of active cases of Covid-19 in the Bahamas is 55.

BARBADOS

NO ISSUES ON BEACHES (loopnewsbarbados.com). Beaches have been partially open since Monday 4 May and no issues have been reported with regards to breaches of social distancing guidelines. Beaches are currently only open between the hours of 6am and 9am as part of a phased reopening strategy. A revised curfew was also announced with times now set at 8pm to 5am. More businesses have been allowed to reopen, each with their own set of permitted working hours. Barbados has reported a total of 82 cases, of which 22 are active, and there have been seven deaths attributed to Covid-19.

BONAIRE, STATIA, SABA

SCHOOLS TO REOPEN ON MAY 11 (bes-reporter.com). A decision has been made to allow children back to school from May 11. Schoolchildren will be encouraged to maintain hygiene protocols such as regular hand washing and not coughing openly, but they will not be required to social distance. Bonaire, Saba and Statia have reported a total of six cases, all of which are active.

CURACAO

RETURNED RESIDENTS GO HOME INSTEAD OF TO QUARANTINE (curacaochronicle.com). A group of 14 residents who returned to the island at Hato Airport all went directly home instead of to the designated ‘quarantine hotel’. The group members say they were not informed of the requirement to spend a 14-day quarantine in a central location, leading to a heated argument at the airport. All were subsequently transferred from their homes to the hotel. Curacao has reported a total of 16 cases, of which one is active, and there has been one death attributed to Covid-19.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

DOMINICANS ARE LOSING FEAR OF THE VIRUS (dominicantoday.com). Public Health Minister, Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas, on has acknowledged the increase in traffic and movement of people in recent weeks. He said the population seems to be losing fear of the coronavirus. “There is traffic in the day, there is no curfew, the population seem to be losing fear, or supplies are running out in the house, so people need to go outside,” the official said. The Ministry of Health “has had to intervene due to crowds of people,” in several parts of the country. The Dominican Republic has reported a total of 9,376 cases, of which 6,710 are active, and there have been 380 deaths attributed to Covid-19.

GRENADA

PM MITCHELL SEEKS DEBT DEFERMENT (nowgrenada.com). Grenada has announced that, as part of its strategy to adjust to the negative fiscal impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country is applying to the international community for a deferment of a EC$60 million debt repayment which is scheduled to be paid to creditors covering the period of April to December 2020. “We are now applying to the international community for the deferment of debt payments. We are expected to be able to make payment of more than EC$60 million between now and the end of the year-end,” Prime Minister, Dr Keith Mitchell, said. “So, what we asking … for the rest of the year we won’t be expected to meet those payments because we can use a lot of those monies to help people, instead of having to pay out those resources at this time and to start paying again next year.” Grenada has reported a total of 21 cases, of which eight are active, and there have been no deaths attributed to Covid-19.

HAITI

HAITIANS ORDERED TO WEAR MASKS (miamiherald.com). Haitian Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe has ordered all Haitians to wear masks in public and banned factories from exporting personal protective gear until they supply the government first. Jouthe, who has struggled to enforce social-distancing measures in the fight against the global coronavirus pandemic, said anyone caught without a mask risks imprisonment because “they are trying to kill themselves.” But where Haitians — the majority of whom live on less than $2.41 a day — will get masks to comply with the order remains a mystery. The government has been promising to distribute 20 million masks to the population, but Jouthe, blaming the local textile industry for the government’s failure to deliver, admitted that he barely had a fraction of them in his possession for the country’s nearly 11 million inhabitants. Haiti has reported a total of 129 cases, of which 101 are active, and there have been 12 deaths attributed to Covid-19.

JAMAICA

COVID BURNOUT! (jamaica-gleaner.com) Healthcare workers are close to burnout said Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, facing members of the governmental Special Select Committee. ‘The truth is that our current complement of public-health staff members who are involved in contact tracing is quite burned… and some are even suffering burn out,’ he said, saying that the government is taking steps to increase its capacity of trained healthcare workers. Jamaica has 421 active cases.

PUERTO RICO

WITH OVER 2,000 CASES AND 100 DEATHS, PUERTO RICO BEGINS REOPENING (miamiherald.com). Despite initial fears, Puerto Rico’s hospitals are not overwhelmed by coronavirus cases, according to the Health Department that says 43 percent of the island’s 647 intensive care unit beds remain available and 78 percent of the health system’s 1,112 ventilators are free. Nevertheless, public health experts warn that there’s still not enough reliable data to know if the coronavirus is under control and there have been issues relating to the accurate recording of cases. Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism has sued the government’s Demographic Registrar’s Office for the right to see death certificates. Vázquez has warned that if there is any indication that contagion is beginning to spike again, restrictions will resume. “We will not risk everything we’ve gained over these weeks,” she said. Puerto Rico has reported a total of 2,156 cases, of which 1,303 are active, and there have been 107 deaths attributed to Covid-19.

ST KITTS-NEVIS

PRISON TOOK EARLY MEASURES TO SAFEGUARD INMATES (sknis.kn). Commissioner of Corrections Terrance James at Her Majesty’s Prison in St Kitts-Nevis said that as of 6 May, ‘None of the staff or inmates of prisons in the English-speaking territories have any infection of the COVID-19.’ Stating that early measures had been put in place to deal with the virus, he commended his staff for helping to keep inmates safe and thanked the inmates for their understanding: ‘They feel safe inside the prison at this time. They are thankful for the precautions that were put in place to keep them safe.’ St Kitts-Nevis has three active cases.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

GOVT/CREDIT UNIONS SIGN COVID-19 LOAN AGREEMENT (newsday.co.tt) The credit union movement has signed a Liquidity Support Loan agreement with the Ministry of Finance to provide loans to credit union members whose income has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The programme, financed by the government, will provide funds to members so they can continue to pay bills and feed families until their circumstances improve. Loans will be granted at an annual rate of six per cent with a maximum principal amount of $15,000. Trinidad & Tobago have five active cases.

UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS

ALL VI HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WILL GRADUATE VIRTUALLY (virginislandsdailynews.com) The class of 2020 will be graduating virtually in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Governor Albert Bryan Jr, whose own daughter is among this year’s graduation class, said: ‘It is a real depressing time. I thought about this every single way, we explored doing it on fields, we did it one by one, and decided it’s just safer if we do the virtual graduation at this time,’ Bryan said. The USVI has eight active cases.