CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
ANTIGUA
Canada-based airline, Sunwing,
returned to Antigua last Saturday and
the airline will be operating weekly
flights to the island from Toronto.
Minister of Tourism, Charles “Max”
Fernandez delivered the news about the
return of Sunwing in a news release in
which he lamented the decision of
US-based carrier, JetBlue, to cancel
flights to Antigua and Barbuda, a move
that is being viewed
as yet another blow to
Antigua and Barbuda’s
tourism prospects.
JetBlue indicated
it is mostly cutting
routes it had added during the pandemic
in the hope of luring passengers
even as the number of flights had
dropped.
About 65 percent of the slashed
routes are to Latin America and the
Caribbean.
In a recent statement, the Tourism
minister said the move by the airline
affects a number of destinations and
was not a direct indictment against
Antigua and Barbuda.
BARBADOS
Barbados says travelers will be
allowed to enter the island with a
valid negative Rapid PCR COVID-19
test result, 24 hours prior to arrival, or
a negative Standard RT-PCR COVID-19
test result within three days prior to
their arrival.
A government statement said the
new measures which went into effect
earlier this month said that the accepted
tests include those which were taken
at an accredited or recognized laboratory
by a healthcare provider.
“LAMP tests, selfadministered
tests or
home kits and tests
using saliva samples
will not be accepted,”
the statement said, as authorities also
announced the digitization of contact
tracing through the Ministry of Health
and Wellness’ Barbados Exposure Notification
App (BENApp).
The government said the free, anonymous
contact tracing and symptomsmonitoring
app is designed to assist in
reducing the spread of COVID-19.
It said the BENApp will notify persons
if they have been near someone
who tested positive for COVID-19 and
has the app running.
Barbados has so far recorded 270
deaths and more than 35,000 positive
cases.
CARIBBEAN
The Barbados-based Caribbean
Drought and Precipitation Monitoring
Network (CD-PMN) said that many
Caribbean countries will be starting
Caribbean L 4 ife, JAN. 28-FEB. 3, 2022
A cow eats banana leaves as the Caribbean nation endures its worst drought in 30 years, in Santiago Rodriguez, Dominican Republic
March 16, 2019. Picture taken March 16, 2019. REUTERS/Ricardo Rojas/File
the new season “with a deficit in water
resources” as the region continues to
be affected by a “relatively dry” period.
CDPMN said that short-term drought
“might develop or continue” in Barbados,
Dominica, southern Dominican
Republic, northern Haiti, Martinique,
Puerto Rico, the USVI and St. Kitts.
Among the countries likely to be
affected by the longterm
drought in the
Eastern Caribbean
include Antigua and
Barbuda, St. Lucia,
St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, with the CDPM also advising
“all stakeholders to keep monitoring
their environment for signs of
drought.”
The CDPMN said that the “greatest
concerns over long-term drought that
can negatively impact large rivers and
reservoirs and ground water by the
end of May 2022, exist over southern
Belize, western Cuba and the US Virgin
Islands.”
DOMINICA
CS Global Partners, London-based
government advisory and marketing
firm, has ranked Dominica as one of
the safest places in the Caribbean and
Latin America.
Taking into account data from the
Global Peace Index (GPI) 2021 and
World Governance Indicators (WGI),
CS Global Partners said its World
Citizenship Report (WCR) ranks the
“Nature Isle” third
in the region with a
score of 77.3 “bringing
it to the 33rd safest
place in the international
arena.”
According to CS Global Partners,
the report acknowledges recent
weather storms in the Caribbean “but
gave Dominica a high standing due
to authorities prioritizing the rapidly
development climate-resilient infrastructure
on the island.”
“The region has also placed emphasis
on physical safety, rule of law and
political stability,” the report said.
“Dominica ranks high in categories
like voice and accountability, where
citizens feel empowered to hold leaders
accountable to their demands and
needs.”
Citizenship by Investment (CBI)
Program, the WCR placed Dominica in
the top 30 percent of 188 of the world’s
jurisdictions, CS Global Partners said.
GRENADA
Social Development Minister, Delmar
Thomas has tested positive for
COVID-19 even as the island reported
several people diagnosed with the virus
are under the age of 18.
Grenada’ has reported 8, 601 cases
and 201 deaths since March 2020 and
health authorities said there are 2, 286
active cases because
of the Omicron variant
which has sparked
a second wave during
the just-ended Christmas
season.
Thomas, writing in her Facebook
page, said: “After working in the frontline
at most pop-up clinics and visiting
the hospital and not getting COVID-
19, I have just tested positive for the
virus,” Thomas, who is asthmatic and
fully vaccinated, said her symptoms
are a slight sore throat and stuffy nose
and that she had “contracted the virus
from her husband” a police officer, who
was diagnosed with the virus a few
days earlier.
Thomas, who has responsibility for
hospital services, is the first government
minister to disclose that she had
tested positive.
Health authorities say several people
under the age of 18 have been diagnosed
with the virus.
Continued on Page 14
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Caribbean braces for drought
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