Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 25, 2020 (SKNIS): CARICOM Heads of Government took a significant step towards reviving the COVID-19 challenged travel and tourism sectors, with the agreement to institute a Travel Bubble among the CARICOM Member States and Associate Members from Friday 18 September 2020. However, St. Kitts and Nevis has not yet agreed to an implementation date as its borders remain closed.
“The Heads of Government of CARICOM including our own prime minister would have agreed in principle to a regional travel bubble. However, we must note that the Federation’s borders remain closed and so the implementation date as announced does not apply to the Federation,” said Dr. Hazel Laws, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at the NEOC COVID-19 Briefing for September 23, 2020.
Dr. Laws shared some of the eligibility criteria for countries to participate.
“Only those territories where there are no reported COVID-19 cases or those territories with low risk – meaning those territories that meet these criteria whereby there is a COVID-19 case notification rate of less than 20 new cases per 1000 population within the last 14-day period – will be eligible to be a part of this CARICOM bubble,” said Dr. Laws. “The territories must have adequate quarantine and isolation sites for persons who are asymptomatic or mildly affected by COVID-19 and these facilities must be separate from the facilities that are designated for visitors and tourists.”
The CMO further indicated that the islands within the Bubble must have “adequate resources to treat severe and critical cases and these islands must each have similar pre-arrival screening requirements and health screening procedures on arrival at the airports. There must be a centralized posting, communication platform or national website where anyone can find the requirements for the countries within the CARICOM bubble.”
Travellers participating in the bubble are not required to take a pre-arrival RT-PCR test nor undergo a period of quarantine in order to travel to countries that are within the Bubble. However, travellers will be subjected to screening on arrival. Important to note, Dr. Laws added that travellers should have been resident to a Bubble country or should not have travelled to a country outside of the Bubble for at least 14-21 days prior to the date of travel.
Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines initially agreed to the Bubble. As of Tuesday, September 22, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, and Barbados have all put their arrangements in place and have commenced operating the Travel Bubble. The other Member States and Associate Members will be allowed to participate when they meet the criteria.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 25, 2020 (ZIZ News):Chief Education Officer, Dr Debbie Isaac says a shift system has been implemented in several of the nation’s primary and secondary schools ahead of the opening of the 2020-2021 Academic year.
During Wednesday’s NEOC briefing at the NEMA, Dr. Isaac said the new shift system has been put in place to ensure the safety of staff, teachers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said Washington Archibald High and Basseterre High School will be placed on the shift system. The primary schools placed on a shift system include Sandy Point Primary, Dr. William Connor Primary, Cotton Thomas Comprehensive and Tucker Clarke Primary.
The Chief Education Officer then spoke in detail about some of the changes that are being made to protect and accommodate students at Cotton Thomas Comprehensive.
“The infants department which includes the early stimulation, autistic and visually impaired along with the skills classes will be at school all day that is from 8:30 am -2:30 pm. These students will not wear the face masks while on the school compound. All the other classes will be on a morning and afternoon shift. All students on the shift system (within Cotton Thomas) will be required to wear face masks while they’re at school”, she noted.
She said there will be a morning and afternoon shift and added that school meals will be provided for students during both sessions. She also explained that parents can expect the school bus to pick up students affected by the shift system around its usual time in the morning and at 11 am for the afternoon shift.
In light of this, she explained that primary school students who are not on the shift system will not be allowed to leave the premises for lunch break.
“Those students in the primary schools who will not be on shift system will not be allowed to leave the school compound for lunch. Parents you will be asked to provide packed lunches for your child or ward as the case may be”, she said.
All teachers in the federation will begin training with the Microsoft teams from Friday August 28 to Thursday September 3.
Dr. Isaac reminded that all teachers must report to their school on Monday September 7 and Tuesday September 8 while primary and secondary school students along with Cotton Thomas Comprehensive are expected to return on Wednesday September 9.
Early Childhood students return in full on Monday September 7.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 20, 2020 (SKNIS): As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the general public is encouraged to adapt to the new normal outlined in the Emergency Regulations as a result of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus.
During the NEOC COVID-19 Briefing for July 17, 2020, Superintendent Cromwell Henry of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force reminded citizens and residents that the new normal created under the Emergency Regulations were implemented to keep everyone safe.
“Emergency Regulations have been published to guide our behaviour to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. These regulations were not intended to be punitive nor were they intended to make life difficult for residents, but they do require a shift away from our normal way of life,” said Superintendent Henry. “A new normal in a sense is therefore required if we are to avoid becoming sick.”
The Superintendent outlined the requirements of the Regulations.
“The new normal requires us to maintain a physical distance of 3-6 feet from everyone around us when in public. It requires us to avoid social gatherings and [practice] social distancing. It requires us to wear masks when in public and it requires us to improve our hand hygiene and sanitization behaviour, to close up businesses and be at our homes at a specific time,” he said. “Failure to adapt to this new normal could result in significant criminal penalties.”
Superintendent Henry reiterated that the main objective of the regulations is to save lives and help keep everyone healthy. “So, as we make the adjustments, we must understand that we cannot do things the way we are accustomed to,” he added.
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