Author: SKNISEditor

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 16, 2021 (SKNIS): Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph Nathaniel France (JNF) General Hospital, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, said that unvaccinated persons in society are not discriminated against, instead, the fight continues in order to protect those who are not able to be vaccinated. “There is no discrimination against the unvaccinated and we need to stop talking about unvaccinated as if it is a race or gender that cannot change,” said Dr. Wilkinson, while responding to a question on the July 14 edition of the NEOC COVID-19 Press Briefing. “Our fight all along has been for the unvaccinated.…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 16, 2021 (SKNIS): Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws is appealing to citizens and residents that they must remain vigilant and comply with the pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical measures because the COVID-19 pandemic is not going anywhere anytime soon. The Chief Medical Officer said living with COVID-19 involves the effective face, space, and hand measures. These are: always wearing a face mask when in public, frequently sanitizing hands, and maintaining a safe distance of six feet from others. She also advised persons to boost their immune system, exercise regularly, avoid large crowds, and stay at home unless necessary.…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 16, 2021 (SKNIS): Prior to the hurricanes of 2017, the National Disaster Management Act stipulated that persons can only enter an emergency shelter 72 hours after the impact of the natural disaster, however, that system has since changed. During the July 14 edition of ‘Working for You’, Deputy National Disaster Coordinator, Claricia Langley-Stevens, explained that the National Emergency Management Agency recognized that the model of opening shelters prior to the impact of a storm worked better. She said, “In 2017, we found at the mitigation level that it was necessary to activate some of our primary shelters…

Vehicle owners are reminded that vehicle inspection depots have resumed operation and, as such, the requirement for a vehicle inspection report to complete the licence renewal process is in effect. — 30 —

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 15, 2021 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Aviation (MOFA&A) is pleased to inform the general public that the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) has organized a Webinar on Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine. This virtual meeting is set for Friday, 20th August, 2021 from 9:00 – 11:00 p.m. Taiwan government officials will share in English, international standards and Taiwan’s experiences in border management and animal and plant disease prevention that render Taiwan free of major global diseases to improve competitiveness in agriculture. A code will be required to…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 15, 2021 (SKNIS): Claricia Langley-Stevens, Deputy National Disaster Coordinator at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said that the agency is reinforced by the National Disaster Mitigation Council, a council that provides general oversight and related policy guidance. “We answer to an authority that is referred to as the Mitigation Council. So the National Mitigation Council is the governing authority that guides the actions of the agency. That is a decision-making body,” said Mrs. Langley-Stevens, during the July 14 edition of Working for You. The Council, which comprises permanent secretaries, heads of key response agencies and non-governmental…

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC®) has formalised yetanother aspect of its long-established relationship with the University of Guyana with thevirtual signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Tuesday, 14 July 2021. Dr Wayne Wesley, Registrar and CEO of CXC®, remarked that the signing of this MOU will“advance human capacity development with the highest level of education possible,ensuring that the competencies students acquire are the competencies that will help toadvance the region.” Under this MOU, the University of Guyana will formally recognise the CXC® AssociateDegree (CXC®-AD) and its use for the purpose of matriculation by candidates. CXC®…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 15, 2021 (SKNIS): During the National Emergency Operations Centre COVID-19 press briefing for July 14, 2021, Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force, Mr. Abdias Samuel, urged all early childhood development centres to seek the necessary authorization and approval with the Task Force in order to be permitted to open the doors to children. The Ministry of Education has also directed both public and private entities on the requirements necessary to restart operations.“Early childhood development unit within the Ministry of Education has opened a number of nurseries, daycare centres and preschools and these were opened by a…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 15, 2021 (SKNIS): Chair of the Housing and Shelter subcommittee of the National Emergency Operations Center, Valentine Lindsay, said that hurricane shelters must be resilient to withstand hurricanes while outlining some of the physical conditions that they should be in. In his appearance on the popular radio and television show ‘Working for You’ on July 14, Mr. Lindsay said, “There is always a historical list that you would start working from but from time to time you would have new facilities coming on stream and so those facilities can also be examined.”“For instance, the additional buildings that…

PAHO Director reiterates commitment to support the Haitian people in their fight against COVID-19 Port-au-Prince/Washington. D.C., July 14, 2021 (PAHO) — Today Haiti received 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the United States through the COVAX Facility. The country is the fourth in the region to receive these donated shipments, after Honduras, El Salvador and Bolivia, with a total of 4,008,000 doses delivered so far.“The arrival of these vaccines is quite promising and now the challenge is to get them to the people that need them the most,” said Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne.…