Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 13, 2022 (SKNIS): The Team Unity Cabinet of Ministers met on Monday, April 11, 2022, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris. During their meeting, Cabinet deliberated on several matters of national importance to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
- The Prime Minister gave the Cabinet a brief overview of the meeting between the leaders of the tripartite coalition parties that form the Government and reported that in response to the letter from the Honourable Premier of Nevis additional monetary support had been allocated to the Nevis Island Administration.
- The Cabinet was brought up to date on the preparations for the funeral state service of Former Premier of Nevis, Vance Amory.
- The presentation from the National COVID-19 Task Force was received with the Medical Chief of Staff deputizing for the Chief Medical Officer. The Medical Chief of Staff reported on the vaccination status in the Federation and the COVID-19 situation locally, regionally and internationally. He informed that over the last seven days the country reported one positive case. He stated that of the number of ships requesting pratique 103 were given permission with only four being denied. The low number of positive COVID-19 cases has caused the Federation to have a lower classification ranking by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Director of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) reported that the Federation had been given the lower classification ranking of Level 1 because of the reduction in numbers. The Director also sought Cabinet’s approval for the Task Force’s recommendation to move from the multi-tiered process for entry into the Federation to one that was more facilitatory which will result in a paperless immigration landing card for a testing period from May to July. He also reported that the Cabinet had no objections to relaxing requirements for taxi drivers insofar as the removal of the plexiglass partition is concerned.
The Cabinet also approved the recommendations of the Task Force that the wearing of masks be mandatory for government buildings, healthcare institutions, public transportation and public and private schools, and that the wearing of masks be optional for restaurants, bars, outdoor events, churches and hotels. Additionally, all travellers to St. Kitts and Nevis are required to upload an Antigen Test one day old or an RT-PCR test 72 hours before travelling. Nationals and residents with work permits or residency status who are not vaccinated are required to quarantine for 7 days upon entry into the Federation.
- Cabinet considered a variety of submissions that will stimulate the economy.
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