CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
BAHAMAS
The Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB) said it has approved US$40
million to strengthen the health system
in The Bahamas, with emphasis
on improving residents’ access in the
country’s smaller islands.
The Washington-based financial
institution said in a statement “enhancing
the capacity to provide health care
by reinforcing medical facilities and
providing new medical
equipment, it will
facilitate access and
improved services to
approximately 60,000
people living in nine
Family Islands.”
“Improvements in the delivery of
the primary health care model and
hospital services and the introduction
of digital health information systems
including telemedicine and electronic
health records in 54 clinics, will
improve access and quality of health
care,” it said.
The IDB said these measures will
directly benefit at least 157,000 people
or about 40 percent of the population of
the Bahamas.
It said the loan approval follows
a separate US$5 million loan by the
bank’s private-sector arm, IDB Invest,
approved on April 30.
CARIBBEAN
The Pan American Health Organization
(PAHO) said that opening or closing
borders is not a guarantee COVID-
19 will not enter the country.
Dr. Ciro Urgate, director of emergencies
answered several questions during
a virtual press conference recently
about the measures put in place by various
countries to curb
the increase in cases.
On the closing of
borders he said, “The
virus is already internally
and depends on the capacity for
health care and internal control.”
He said there will continue to be high
and low seasons of contagion.
PAHO director Dr. Carissa Etienne
said, “Although we are seeing some
relief from the virus in countries of the
Northern Hemisphere, for most South
American nations the end is still a distant
future.”
She was also critical of the low
number of people vaccinated in the
region.
GUYANA
The US Agency for International
Development/Eastern and Southern
Caribbean Mission (USAID/ESC) and
representatives from the Caribbean
Community Climate Change Center,
the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology
and Hydrology (CIMH) and the
Caribbean L 4 ife, JULY 16-22, 2021
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
Director of the Pan American Health Organization Carissa Etienne makes declarations to the media during a meeting of Public
Health ministers to discuss policies to deal with the Zika virus, in Montevideo Feb. 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Stapff/File Photo
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Agency
(CDEMA) recently signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) at the
Caricom headquarters in Guyana.
The signing of the MoU occurred
during the virtual opening ceremony
of USAID)/ESC’s regional climate
symposium Refresh,
Renew and Re-pivot to
Action.
The MoU reaffirms
the long-standing
partnership between
USAID and leading climate change entities
and further recognizes the urgent
need for climate action in the Caribbean
region.
The MoU was witnessed by Sarah
Lynch, US ambassador to Guyana and
CARICOM and Irwin La Roche, secretary
general of CARICOM.
JAMAICA
Tourists visiting Jamaica since the
sector was reopened one year ago have
spent more than US$1 billion.
This was revealed by Minister of
Tourism, Edmund Bartlett recently,
who said preliminary figures indicate
that since the reopening of the tourism
sector on June 15, 2020, Jamaica
has recorded a total of 816,632 stopover
visitors and generated earnings of
approximately US$1.31 billion over the
one-year period.
Bartlett said this is further proof that
the tourism sector is on a steady path of
recovery and that for the calendar year,
the tourism industry is forecasting to
deliver 1.61 million visitors against an
earlier estimate of 1.15 million, an
improvement of 460, 000 more visitors.
He noted that the tourism recovery
is on the horizon adding that the sector
is rising like a ‘Phoenix from the
ashes.’
Bartlett said that the improvement
is due in part, to the development of
robust health and safety protocols for
the sector as well as the establishment
of the Tourism COVID-
19 Resilient Corridors,
which have seen a
very low infection rate
of 0.6 percent.
ST. VINCENT
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves
said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
and recent eruption of the La
Soufriere volcano on the island’s education
system, will only be felt in 10
years.
According to Gonsalves, it is important
for students to return to the classroom
as soon as possible.
He added that by the
middle of this century,
most of the nation’s
40-year-olds would be
significantly affected
by what is taking place today.
the prime minister said the nation
is already seeing the problems of those
who have missed out on the education
evolution.
Face-to-face classes in St. Vincent
and the Grenadines are yet to resume
this year, as a spike in COVID-19 cases
last December forced the closure of
schools after the Christmas break.
Students were scheduled to return to
the physical classroom on April 12 but
the explosive eruption of the volcano
has placed that on hold, as many of
the nation’s schools were used as emergency
shelters.
Gonsalves told a press conference
recently that there is anxiety for people
to get back home but the government will
not force people from shelters.
Continued on Page 22
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
PAHO concern over low vaccination rates
/www.caribbeanlifenews.com
/www.caribbeanlifenews.com