“[…] I have heard so many persons say: ‘I do not know how I got this virus, I did all the right things’. However, when you speak with them you realise that they were negligent with regard to the wearing of masks. “Any situation where you are not wearing a …
Read More »Dear Editor: The media must beware of unhelpful ‘post-truths’ about mental health
“[…] I had a problem when she said, ‘No matter how privileged or happy your circumstances are, most humans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.’ “No degree of latitude from journalistic licence should be allowed about that statement. It is incorrect—not just because I am a psychiatrist saying so…” The following …
Read More »Dear Editor: Is the Govt too afraid of the Opposition to introduce mandatory vaccines?
“[…] Having apparently exhausted every avenue of encouraging vaccination apart from the obvious one, the official stance appears to be shifting to ‘well, we tried’. “On an intellectual level, I know why this is the most expedient approach… [However] if our Government, elected to lead in the best interests of everyone, …
Read More »MoE: We won’t put children’s education at risk; physical school reopens for ALL forms 4-6 students
Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly announced today that all students from forms four to six ‘and their equivalents’ must resume physical school on Monday 25 October, regardless of vaccination status. Online schooling will be discontinued for such forms from Monday. However, forms one to three will remain online for …
Read More »MoE, TTUTA clash over school for vaccinated students; Gov’t wants more, union wants less
Ministry of Education: ‘[…] After analysis of the physical attendance data for Forms 4-6 students, the Government has proposed the reopening of physical school for all vaccinated secondary students of ages 12-18…’ Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association: ‘[…] The promotion of academic inequity by the MOE through its current …
Read More »MoH attempts to clarify ‘safe zone’ businesses, alcohol consumption still ‘strictly prohibited’
“[…] Owners, Operators and Customers of the above businesses are reminded as follows: The consumption of any food or drink and/or in house dining on the premises of the businesses listed above is permitted only if the businesses meet the requirements of the Safe Zone policy as delineated in Regulation 6 of …
Read More »Best: Picking sense out of MoH nonsense; Dr Fuad Khan’s broadside at Piarco Covid system
“This makes no sense,” Dr Fuad Khan thunders at one point in his latest online sermon. “Whoever did this system is a dunce! Is time to get rid ah dese fools in the Ministry of Health.” It’s not easy to decide which set of fools is more wearisome, harder to …
Read More »Dear Editor: Months of missed opportunities: how Deyalsingh and his experts dropped the ball
“[…] Evidence suggests a very strong link between Covid-19 and obesity. In March 2021, the Independent, Sky News and Reuters published an article which highlighted that 90% of Covid-19 deaths were in countries with high obesity rates (in 2018, T&T was ranked 6th in childhood obesity in the Caribbean at …
Read More »Dear Editor: Charles is wrong, the health minister was obliged to defend T&T on Daily Show
“[…] The minister of health had an obligation to embrace the opportunity to appear on the show, as the matter raised by Ms Minaj had received widespread international coverage both on conventional and social media platforms. “[…] More particularly from a health perspective, T&T’s vaccination programme has been hampered by …
Read More »Noble: Hope is the oxygen of democracy; we cannot afford to let NGOs wither away
One of my saddest memories is of something that happened in 2015 at a village perched high overlooking Port-of-Spain. This village was once a place of joy, where citizens from all over the country flocked to watch the annual fireworks in the Queen’s Park Savannah. However, a nationally infamous gang …
Read More »PAHO: Children face significant Covid risk, but countries must do everything ‘to safely reopen schools’
“[…] With each day that children go without in-person schooling, the higher the likelihood that they drop out and never return to school. For some of the most vulnerable children—particularly for our girls—this can have lasting consequences. “Experts agree that the pandemic has triggered the worst educational crisis we have ever seen in the …
Read More »Dear Editor: It’s illegal, under OSHA, to force employees to pay for PCR tests
“Many employers are trying to force workers who have not been vaccinated to take a PCR test… Of course, the expectation is that workers will pay for this—and at anything up to $1,400 a test, it is hardly worth going to work. “You’re not going to work to pay the …
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