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 …
Read More »Deyalsingh clarifies temporary easing of Covid-19 restrictions in food industry
“[…] With effect from Monday 19 July 2021, the Minister of Health hereby authorises restaurants, caterers and persons in the food industry to supply or distribute prepared meals for sale to: (a) supermarkets, groceries, markets, green grocers, bakeries, poultry depots; (b) retail membership discount stores; (c) wholesale stores for the …
Read More »Daly Bread: Preparing for the re-opening of T&T’s borders
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 …
Read More »Noble: The Apology and the Revolution; how both political leaders fell short over Covid-19 blunder
As Trinidadians, we often want to ‘move on’ when difficult issues arise. We seldom wish to examine how public injustices happen. Instead, we accuse all who stop to explore the wreckage since we do not want ‘to play the blame game’. This tendency is why our nation took 14 years …
Read More »MSJ: Opposition Leader’s attack on health care professionals is ‘dangerous in the extreme’
“[…] Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s most recent attack on our senior public servants in the health care sector must be condemned in the strongest possible manner. “[…] For the leader of the opposition to suggest that these medical professionals are in some form or fashion contributing to ‘premeditated, state-sanctioned murder’ is scurrilous and …
Read More »Media Monitor: Minister’s mistakes and a mess of missed opportunities
CCN’s Anthony Wilson missed an opportunity to cover himself in media glory on Saturday. Responding to a question from the Express Business editor, Prime Minister Dr Keith Christopher Rowley asked rhetorically: “Yuh want somebody to blame? Blame me.” People knowledgeable about boxing might call that leading with your chin. But …
Read More »Noble: Counting our losses; after months following the science, why did minister zigzag?
This week has been awfully long. How the worm has turned! On Thursday 3 June, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced that US vice-president Kamala Harris had promised a substantial vaccine donation. On Saturday 5 June, he informed that the country had secured 800,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccines with an …
Read More »MSJ: Health minister has botched vaccine roll-out, new thinking and leadership is required
“[…] It should have been obvious to the minister of health that with all the deaths, the high number of cases and the reported dominance of the Brazilian variant, most people would want to be vaccinated. Get vaccinated has been the message for several weeks and citizens heeded the call. …
Read More »Covid counter: 326 deaths and 13,085 positives in May; Wired868 looks at figures before and after SoE
The Ministry of Health confirmed another 16 Covid-19 related deaths today, which took the number of fatalities this month to a sobering 326. In the previous 14 months of the pandemic, Trinidad and Tobago had a total of 169 deaths. There were 271 new cases recorded, which were based on …
Read More »Live Wire Chronicles: Covid-19 measures vs Covid-19 plans, devilish Davlin, and forgetful Faris
Trinidad and Tobago’s Covid-19 vaccination drive will lose two days of implementation this week due to a rescheduling forced upon the Ministry of Health by the state of emergency regulations, which in itself was designed to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. In other words, to repeat a quip …
Read More »Health and education ministries reschedule holiday vaccinations, due to PM’s new SoE amendments
The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education have rescheduled all Covid-19 vaccination appointments on Monday 31 May and Thursday 3 June—the Indian Arrival Day and Corpus Christi holidays respectively—after the operations of its public health facilities were severely curtailed by an amendment to the state of emergency regulations this …
Read More »Noble: Polarising a nation—are we trying to help our country, or ourselves?
It is indisputable that Covid-19 represents the most significant health and economic threat faced in this generation. We have had raging arguments about the effects of efforts to contain the virus. Achieving the scale of the required changes in personal behaviour is challenging, but such changes are integral to success. …
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