What do sugar and a Sikorsky helicopter have in common? Perhaps the Sikorsky deal, currently prominent news, was a sweet one with too much sugar. But there is more to it than that. We have been consistently told that a significant number of our Covid deaths are the result of …

Many lives and our economic survival depend on the availability of vaccines in sufficient numbers to vaccinate 70 percent or greater of the adult population. We are re-opening for business before the 70 percent target is achieved and before more is known about the Delta variant, described as ‘relentless’. That …

Have we taken a good look at ourselves? It is not an encouraging picture. We should have been re-assessing our tiny nation’s place in the world on an ongoing basis since Independence, long before we were reminded of our lowly place by having to stand in line for a supply …

Most politicians will only present information to the public in a form that is perceived to be politically advantageous. When confronted with the reality of adverse events, denials or attempts, the first reaction is to trivialise reality—and sometimes in an obnoxious manner. We have the added disadvantage of the poisonous …

In the post-vaccination world, borders will re-open to travellers from outside—with the exception of certain countries and subject to specific requirements. In this second summer under the pandemic, we will be restless and chafing against our current border closure regime as large numbers of Caribbean persons want to renew our …

The utterances of the leader of the opposition are regressing further. They descended last week into the disgusting, when she attacked the members of the public health medical team, who regularly appear at the Covid-19 Response media conferences.   She linked them to ‘state-sanctioned murder’ because we have over 600 …

It comes as no surprise that our experts have provisionally concluded that the P1 (Brazilian) variant of the Covid-19 virus has expanded within our borders; and, according to Professor Christine Carrington, ‘is the dominant strain right now’.   In last Tuesday’s Trinidad Express, the professor reportedly stated that ‘testing since …

It is clear now that the pandemic began to get the better of us in March and April and succeeded in surging to almost overwhelming proportions in the just concluded month of May. Although prematurely boastful, we appeared to have done well in restraining the advance of the pandemic for …

In the parliamentary debate held on Monday last, the boastful confirmation from the minister of transport that the air and sea bridges carried 50,000 persons between Trinidad and Tobago during the Easter week came up again. The prime minister reportedly ‘dismissed as a distortion the opposition leader’s reference to the …

The principal features of the Emergency Regulations, published on Sunday in an additional effort to combat the overwhelming spread of Covid-19 infections, are daytime restrictions on the movement of persons and the imposition of a 9pm to 5am curfew.   I took comfort from the fact that the regulations did …

Dr Roshan Parasram, chief medical officer (CMO), and Dr Avery Hinds, technical director epidemiology, are trusted persons. I have said so more than once. It is from the facts, truth and science which they respectively deliver that I may raise issues about the government’s management of the pandemic. The issue …

The working week began with a shock as a result of which we must ask the minister of health for truthful answers. The prime minister hosted a media conference on Monday last, in which he announced increased lockdowns. At that event, our trusted chief medical officer, Dr Roshan Parasram, disclosed …