NEWS
Repatriated citizen among four new covid19 cases
Four more people have tested positive for covid19, one of whom is a repatriated citizen. This information comes from the daily covid19 update from the Ministry of Health. There are 124 active cases and there have been 139 deaths. Read more here
Medical supplies launches one-stop-shop
Welfor Medical Limited has launched a one-stop-shop for medical supplies and equipment. Located on the corner of Ariapita Avenue and Rosalino Street, the Welfor Medical Store offers a wide range of products to the public and medical professionals. It ranges from as simple as facemasks and hand sanitiser to hospital-grade beds, ventilators and foggers—all easily accessible to the public. It also carries the Q-mist sanitiser and disinfectant which was developed by the company and manufactured locally. It’s non-toxic, bleach-free, safe on all surfaces and is environmentally friendly. Read more here
POLITICS
Senators get more time to talk
The Senate on Tuesday agreed that average senator's speech will now be 30 minutes, up from the 20-minute limit set last August to curb the covid19 pandemic, but not a full return to the pre-pandemic allocation of 40 minutes. Moments before Opposition Senator Wade Mark could move a private motion to return to pre-pandemic allocations, Senate Leader Franklin Khan made proposals to which a split Senate agreed. Read more here
Cabinet not ready to wind up WASA as recommended
Although a Cabinet sub-committee has recommended the incremental dissolution of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and replace it with a Water Management Company with a revised water sector model over a three-year transitionary period, Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales said Cabinet held a different view in which the transformation should take place. “Cabinet is of the view with an empowered management team and a management that is held accountable to the people of T&T and to be given the mandate to manage in the way that any modern organisation ought to be managed there is absolutely no need to wind down the operations of WASA at this point in time,” he said at a news conference yesterday. Read more here
BUSINESS
Imbert: Adding self-employed to national insurance 'prohibitive'
Finance Minister Colm Imbert said Tuesday that the initial financial cost to government to bring self-employed people into the national insurance system (NIS) would be prohibitive. It was not certain this cost could ever be recovered, he added. Speaking to the Senate, in response to a question by Independent Senator Amrita Deonarine, Imbert said a 2020 report of the high-level working committee on the inclusion of the self-employed into the national insurance system is being reviewed by the Finance Ministry. He said the committee will make a presentation to him on its findings and recommendations shortly. Read more here
NGC signs deal to construct gas pipeline for new industrial estate
The National Gas Company (NGC) has signed an engineering, procurement, and commissioning (EPC) contract for gas infrastructure for e TecK’s Phoenix Park Industrial Estate (PPIE), with the Beijing Construction Engineering Group Company Limited (BCEG). BCEG, a Chinese construction and engineering firm, is the design-build contractor for PPIE. PPIE, a Government initiative led by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, is a state-of-the-art light industrial estate that is being developed to stimulate economic development and further diversification efforts. Read more here
REGIONAL
Patients on oxygen clutter corridors as Gov’t launches COVID recruitment drive
Patients are now forced to sit out their stay in the corridors at Cornwall Regional Hospital receiving oxygen – stark imagery of the scale of Jamaica’s coronavirus crisis which is choking public healthcare facilities. Read more here
Vaccines reducing COVID-19 cases, deaths
The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has only just begun in a few Caribbean countries, but Chairman of the PAHO Regional Immunisation Technical Advisory Group, Professor Peter Figueroa, highlighted that the vaccination ongoing in other parts of the world has contributed to a decrease in the number of cases and deaths. “What is impressive is that with the rollout of the vaccine, we are seeing a dramatic decline globally in the number of new cases of COVID,” Professor Figueroa said while speaking at a virtual forum organisation by the COVID-19 Task Force of the University of the West Indies (UWI). Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Covid: WHO scheme Covax delivers first vaccines
Ghana has become the first country to receive coronavirus vaccines through the Covax vaccine-sharing initiative. The World Health Organization (WHO) programme aims to ensure that vaccines are shared fairly among all nations. Covax is aiming to deliver about two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines globally by the end of the year. Many rich nations, who began their own vaccinations months ago, have faced criticism for buying or ordering more vaccines than they need. A total of 600,000 doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University arrived in Ghana's capital Accra on Wednesday. Read more here
Philippines offers to let nurses work in Britain and Germany in exchange for coronavirus vaccines
The Philippines will let thousands of its health care workers, mostly nurses, take up jobs in Britain and Germany if the two countries agree to donate coronavirus vaccines, a senior official said on Tuesday. Britain's health ministry said it was not interested in such a deal and its priority was to use shots domestically, but added it would share surplus vaccine internationally in the future. The Philippines, which has among Asia's highest number of coronavirus cases, has relaxed a ban on deploying its health care workers overseas, but still limits the number of medical professionals leaving the country to 5,000 a year. Read more here
24th February 2021