NEWS
NWRHA director: Mass vaccination sites working well
Director of Health at the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) Dr Anthony Parkinson says the use of the Paddock at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain, has been successful as a vaccination distribution site thus far. Parkinson, speaking with Newsday outside the venue on Tuesday, suggested the rollout would happen faster and more effectively if similar sites are opened, although the smaller vaccination centres were operating smoothly. Read more here
Six more die from COVID in last 24 hours
T&T yesterday recorded its second deadliest day since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with six deaths in 24 hours. It was one short of September 11, 2020, when the country recorded seven deaths. According to the Ministry of Health, the six victims included two elderly males and one middle-aged male with comorbidities, as well as two middle-aged males and one middle-aged female without significant comorbidities. Since the start of April 2021, T&T began to record a spike in cases at the start of April 2021 and by mid-month, the spike in deaths started. From April 15 to the present, T&T has recorded 39 deaths, with 16 of those occurring in the last four days since the start of May. Read more here
POLITICS
Hinds to UNC: Government abandoned no one in pandemic
National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds on Tuesday rejected Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar's claims that Government abandoned vulnerable people during the covid19 pandemic. In a post on his Facebook page, Hinds said, "Given the fact that the country’s economic circumstances are seriously challenging, the Opposition Leader bombards us with dotish talk about the Government locking down and abandoning little people." Read more here
Business chambers: Job losses, permanent closures inevitable
Some job losses and permanent closures are inevitable among small and medium businesses which will be unable to fulfil the Prime Minister’s call for the private sector to “carry workers” until the end of the heightened lockdown. This was confirmed yesterday by Jai Leladharsingh (co-ordinator of the Confederation of 15 regional business chambers). With hospitals at tipping point with spiking COVID pressures, Government announced rollback to shut down of various sectors which were restricted in the first 2020 COVID wave. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley urged the private sector to make the sacrifice, not look at the financial bottom line and “carry” - continue to keep - their workers during the closures. Read more here
BUSINESS
TCL makes 15 per cent increase in revenue
Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) posted a 19 per cent increase in the first quarter of 2021 as compared to last year. In its consolidated unaudited financial report, TCL said it recorded $493 million in consolidated revenue from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2021 as compared to the first quarter of 2020. Read more here
Wastewater, clean power for homes
AS the world gradually moves to cleaner energy, Cerebrum Energy Services Limited located on Edward Street in Port of Spain is doing its part to provide households, companies and industries with renewable electricity from wasted energy. Read more here
REGIONAL
Critical oil vessel equipment exported for repairs, upgrades
The defective discharge silencer, a critical component of the recently re-installed flash-gas compressor aboard the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, has been exported for repairs and upgrades, as work continues to return operations to normal levels. ExxonMobil’s Public and Government Affairs Adviser, Janelle Persaud, in an invited comment on Monday, said that the defective contraption was sent to Houston, Texas, United States of America (U.S.) for the necessary repairs and upgrades. Read more here
Back to School
Students poised to sit a range of exit and external examinations are set to return to school for face-to-face engagement, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced. The declaration covers the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate, and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), City & Guilds, and the National Vocational Qualification. “We will have to send our children back to school,” Holness stated in the House of Representatives on Tuesday as he told lawmakers of amendments to orders under the Disaster Risk Management Act. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
The world sent India millions in Covid aid. Why is it not reaching those who need it most?
As India's Covid-19 crisis tipped past breaking point last month, dozens of countries pledged critical aid. Planeloads of ventilators, oxygen supplies and antiviral drugs began arriving last week, with photos showing massive parcels being unloaded at New Delhi airport. There's just one problem: for many days, much of the cargo sat in airport hangars as hospitals on the ground pleaded for more provisions. Read more here
Covid: Reused nose swab scam busted in Indonesia airport
Several employees of a pharmaceutical company have been arrested in Indonesia for allegedly washing and reselling used Covid nasal swab test kits. Up to 9,000 passengers at an airport in Medan may have been tested with the reused swab sticks, say police. State-owned company Kimia Farma is now reportedly facing a potential lawsuit launched on behalf of the travellers. Covid nasal swab testing has become routine in many countries hit by the global pandemic. Police said they believed the scam had been happening since last December at Kualanamu airport in Medan, North Sumatra. Read more here
5th May 2021