NEWS

Tourism Trinidad: Coronavirus could benefit tourism

The Caribbean tourism industry can potentially benefit from the coronavirus outbreak as US travellers – the primary source of tourists into TT – could consider shifting travel plans to the region from Asia and Europe, Tourism Trinidad acting CEO Heidi Alert said. The industry is, however, still bracing for a “rocky ride” as the virus spreads across the world, including North America, Europe and Asia. TT’s tourism industry must join the international tourism industry in readying itself, she added. “We must not view the coronavirus as only a China, or Asia, or Far East health crisis, but we of ourselves must also be fully prepared.” Read more here

Caricom holds emergency meeting

Cari­com Min­is­ters of Health held an emer­gency meet­ing on the COVID-19 virus on Wednes­day and agreed to the es­tab­lish­ment of a work­ing group to for­mu­late rec­om­men­da­tions and pro­to­cols for a pos­si­ble re­gion­al re­sponse to the dis­ease. Re­cent­ly the Cari­com Heads of gov­ern­ment out­lined that an out­break could re­verse eco­nom­ic gains of Cari­com states, but recog­nised that the risk of trans­mis­sion of the virus in the re­gion re­mained rel­a­tive­ly low. This sec­ond emer­gency meet­ing of Cari­com’s Coun­cil for Hu­man and So­cial De­vel­op­ment (COHSOD-Health) was al­so joined by Cari­com chair­man, Prime Min­is­ter Mia Mot­t­ley of Bar­ba­dos and Sec­re­tary-Gen­er­al Am­bas­sador Ir­win LaRocque. It was chaired by An­tigua and Bar­bu­da’s Min­is­ter of Health Mr Mol­wyn Joseph. Read more here

POLITICS

Deyalsingh: Couva Hospital can quarantine patients

The Couva Hospital will be set aside as a 230-bed quarantine facility in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak in TT, it was said at Thursday’s post-Cabinet briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s. Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said TT’s preparedness for any large-scale Covid-19 outbreak will consist of “five concentric rings,” that is, hospitals. Caura Hospital has four beds with 20 more to come within a fortnight, he said, while St James Hospital has a 67-bed facility. At Port of Spain General Hospital, he is eyeing the old Costaat building for a quarantine unit. Isolation facilities will also be set up in Tobago, he said, Deyalsingh said Couva Hospital is a level three facility with an intensive care unit and operating facilities. Read more here

Rowley worried about economic impact

While deal­ing with the po­ten­tial threat of the coro­n­avirus from a health per­spec­tive re­mains the main pri­or­i­ty, Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley is con­cerned about the po­ten­tial fi­nan­cial fall­out should the virus linger longer than ex­pect­ed. “We are a na­tion that has a very sig­nif­i­cant re­liance on the ex­ter­nal mar­kets and the ex­ter­nal econ­o­my,” said the Prime Min­is­ter, who said while cer­tain pro­to­cols have been put in place as safe­guards should the coro­n­avirus ar­rive in T&T, he con­tin­ued to look at the im­pact the virus had on neigh­bour­ing economies which could af­fect our own. “There are some big­ger is­sues here for us. As we look at the ef­fect that this threat of the virus is hav­ing on the in­ter­na­tion­al trad­ing com­mu­ni­ty, we in Trinidad and To­ba­go have se­ri­ous ex­po­sure,” Dr Row­ley said at yes­ter­day’s post-Cab­i­net press brief­ing. Read more here

BUSINESS

Taxi-drivers warn: Curepe fares going up

Passengers commuting between Port of Spain and Curepe/Tunapuna can expect an increase in taxi fares from this weekend. Read more here

REGIONAL

‘No compromise on private polling places’

Representatives from the coalition and the main opposition party visited areas on Thursday where claims have been made that electors would be affected by congestion and distance due to the reassigning of polling places. The visitation came after Executives of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) were made aware that representatives of the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had gone about on a similar visitation unbeknownst to and without the APNU+AFC. Read more here

Big Money Popping - Parties Reeled In Whopping $100m For Portland East By-Election

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP) received more than $100 million to battle in the April 4, 2019, Portland East by-election. Some 10 months after the dust has settled, with the JLP’s Ann Marie Vaz emerging victorious, the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) finally tallied the respective contributions of the two parties. According to the ECJ, the PNP received $47,761,005.00 while the JLP received $53,070,000. The ECJ reported that the JLP received 21 contributions with requirement for reporting. The highest was one contribution of between $7.6 million and $8.5 million. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

South Korean officials search for almost 3,000 religious group members

South Korean authorities are trying to track down almost 3,000 members of a religious group at the heart of the country's coronavirus outbreak. South Korea has more than 2,300 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 13 deaths, making it the most-affected country outside mainland China. The governor of Gyeonggi province, Lee Jae-myung, has requested that police track down 2,995 members of the group, which practises an offshoot of Christianity. Health surveys were conducted on 30,814 Shincheonji members and found 740 people suffering from symptoms of the coronavirus. The surveys were conducted by 210 Shincheonji members who performed the task on behalf of government workers because group leaders say members won’t answer calls from people outside the group. Read more here

Syria war: Alarm after 33 Turkish soldiers killed in attack in Idlib

At least 33 Turkish soldiers have died in a Syrian government attack in opposition-held north-western Syria, in a major escalation of the conflict. Turkey, which backs the opposition, says it hit 200 government targets in response, "neutralising" 309 soldiers. Russia, Syria's key military ally, says Turkish troops were attacked in Idlib province by Syrian forces while operating alongside jihadist fighters. The EU has warned the crisis could descend into a serious conflict. "There is a risk of sliding into a major open international military confrontation," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted. "It is also causing unbearable humanitarian suffering and putting civilians in danger." Read more here

28th February 2020

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