CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Barbados
Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley
announced last week new protocols
for visitors who are fully vaccinated
against COVID-19 that will allow them
a shorter period for quarantine.
Under the new provisions, which will
take effect on May 8, vaccinated visitors
would be allowed to leave a quarantine
facility once they return a negative
PCR test, while unvaccinated travelers
will have to remain in
quarantine for seven
days.
Mottley explained
that a vaccinated person
is identified as that
person, who, in in a two dose regime
had received both doses plus 14 days;
or a one dose regime, one dose plus 14
days.
She said in essence, it still requires
that even though you are vaccinated
that you can come to the island with
a PCR test that is negative within the
last 72 hours and that upon arrival in
the country or the morning after that
you will do a PCR test, whether it is a
rapid test or classic PCR test, and that
you will have limited movement within
the hotel, if you are staying at a government
facility.
The prime minister said protocols
would continue to be reviewed and a
monitoring committee would be established
to ensure they are working effectively.
Mottley told the same press conference
that from April 11, there would
be an ease in restrictions for residents,
while new Covid-19 cases continuing
to drop.
Bahamas
A 21-year-old mother of two was
jailed for six months in prison after she
presented a false doctor’s
hospital COVID-
19 result when she
attempted to travel
two weeks ago.
The court heard
that Jasmine Pyfrom knowingly presented
the COVID-19 result on April 7
that was not genuine.
Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans was
told that Pyfrom presented the test
bearing her name on an IPhone XR to a
government ambassador.
The ambassador then examined the
document and compared it and found it
to be fraudulent.
The police were contacted and the
accused was cautioned and arrested.
Later, she admitted to taking the test
but received the document from her
stepfather.
She pleaded guilty to the charges of
possession and uttering a forged document.
She told the court she had taken the
Caribbean L 6 ife, APRIL 23-29, 2021
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Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. Photo by George Alleyne
test, but the results had expired.
In passing sentence, the magistrate
said the court took this into consideration,
but noted the “extreme seriousness
of the charges” and the possible
effect.
Caribbean
The Barbados-based Caribbean
Development Bank (CDB) has expressed
concern about the challenges facing
St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the
wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as the
La Soufriere volcano
continues to erupt.
In a statement last
week, the CDB said it
joins with the regional
and international
community in expressing its solidarity
and best wishes to the government and
people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The regional institution said the first
tier will involve supporting the regional
response mechanism through the Caribbean
Disaster Emergency Management
Agency (CDEMA).
The second tier will entail the provision
of funds to assist with urgent needs
at the national level.
CDB is maintaining active lines of
communications with the government
of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The statement said the response will
be tailored by the immediate support
requested by the government and the
damage assessment.
It added that the trained community
emergency response teams, have been
activated and community emergency
plans, hazard maps and evacuation
routes developed under the project have
been rolled out.
This has assisted with the evacuation
of vulnerable persons and the mobilization
of transportation resources, supplies
and equipment to facilitate safe
movement to designated shelters in the
green zone.
Grenada
Grenada’s Deputy Commissioner of
Police, Michael Francois said that lawmen
would be looking out for criminals
who may try to take advantage of the
movement of evacuees from volcanoaffected
St. Vincent to engage in illegal
activities in the
two-island’s maritime
space.
He also made an
appeal to Grenadians
to be vigilant as well.
Grenada is among Caribbean countries
that have offered to take in people
evacuated from the danger zone near
the La Soufriere volcano, which erupted
recently.
Francois acknowledged the possibility
of criminals using humanitarian gesture
as cover to conduct illegal transactions,
such as drug smuggling.
He said there would, therefore be
increased monitoring of Grenada’s
coastlines by immigration, drug squad
and other law enforcement officers.
Jamaica
Jamaica’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
in the Ministry of Health and Wellness
said there have been no reports of blood
clots in persons who
received the Astra-
Zeneca vaccine in the
country.
The European
Medicine Agency said
recently that it had found a “possible
link” between shots and the rare clots.
The EU agency described the clots as
“very rare” side effects.
Several countries have already
imposed limits on who can receive the
vaccine and any restrictions are closely
watched since the vaccine shots.
Amid concerns, Jamaica will continue
to administer the vaccine, the
CMO said.
It was disclosed that as of April
7, some 47,728 persons have received
their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
This represents 96 percent of the
target population for the first month of
the vaccination program.
And in Barbados, as complications
continue to unfold with the AstraZeneca
COVID-19 vaccine, the latest being
confirmation from the European drug
regulators of a linkage between the shot
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Barbados announces new Covid protocols
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