(AP) – US President Donald Trump will leave Washington next Wednesday morning, just before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, to begin his post-presidential life in Florida.

He will be sent off with a departure ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, according to a person familiar with the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity because Trump’s plans have not been formally announced. Officials are considering an elaborate event that would have the feel of a state visit, with a red carpet, colour guard, military band and 21-gun salute all being discussed.

Trump had already announced that he would not be attending Biden’s inauguration — a historical break with tradition — after spending months making baseless allegations of voter fraud in an attempt to delegitimise Biden’s presidency. Vice President Mike Pence will attend in his place.

Trump will leave Washington two weeks after he incited a violent insurrection, with his supporters storming the Capitol building in an attempt to halt the peaceful transition of power.

Trump is expected to remain in Florida with a small group of aides as he mulls his future.

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By Ministry of Health

(PRESS RELEASE) – The Ministry of Health is well on its way to improving its surveillance of people on home quarantine through the introduction of innovative technology.

The introduction of the two electronic monitoring devices, Bio Intellisense BioButton and Amber wristwatch, is expected to come on stream on January 18, 2021.

Acting National Epidemiologist Dr. Dana Gomez speaks on the purpose and benefits of the BioButton.

“The BioButton is a disposable, one time use body sensor about the size of a quarter, designed to be worn on the left side of the chest. It is small and unnoticeable. It monitors the vitals of quarantined persons who may be high risk for developing COVID-19. Provides continuous temperature, respiratory rate and heart rate measurements to the user. In so doing it enables the early detection of potential case.”

Dr. Gomez also spoke on the capabilities of the Amber wristwatch.

“Through its geofencing capability it ensures that persons wearing the device remain within the confines of their home as per home quarantine protocols. It also allows for the monitoring of vitals of the quarantined individual. This means that should persons develop symptoms during their quarantine period, this would be detected by the Ministry of Health. Through improved monitoring, this device will aid in the nations COVID-19 response plan by limiting the spread of the disease, as it helps to ensure that persons remain at home during their quarantine period.”

The BioButton will cost USD $100 for 14 day period and the Amber wristwatch will cost USD $37.50 for 5 to 7 days rental and USD $75 for the 14 day rental.

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(AP) — Vice President Mike Pence has called Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to offer his congratulations and assistance with her transition into office.

That’s according to two people who weren’t authorised to publicly discuss the private conversation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pence’s call comes less than a week before President-elect Joe Biden and Harris are set to take office. Inauguration Day is this coming Wednesday.

The call is the first contact between elected officials from the outgoing and incoming administrations.

President Donald Trump hasn’t reached out to Biden and has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of Biden’s win.

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Statement from the Minister of Education Hon. Dr. Gale T.C. Rigobert

The Department of Education has noted the concerns expressed due to the number of reported positive cases of Covid-19. As Minister for Education, I have been in constant dialogue with the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sharon Belmar George and her team as well as my staff at the Department of Education to assess the situation.

I can say that for the most part the reopening of schools ran smoothly, thanks to the efforts of our principals, teachers and ancillary staff who went over and beyond, to have those schools ready to welcome our students.

As cases impact the nation and by extension, the education sector, these will be managed as per the Ministry of Health’s protocols. We will always communicate with the affected parties within the education system as we manage individual situations. The decision to return to the physical classroom, has always been guided by the Department of Health as well as information coming from agencies such as WHO and CARPHRA.

The Department of Education was able to assess the effectiveness of the “Education Sector Continuity Plan” which speaks to specific scenarios that could impact our education system. I would like to thank all of the stakeholders for their input in the revision of the plan ahead of the reopening in January.

Let me reiterate that it is understandable that there will be some concern coming from parents, teachers, staff and the wider population about the safety of our children at this time. However, I wish to underscore that at no time will my Ministry, the Government or myself do anything that would deliberately put the lives of our students, teachers and staff at risk.

Therefore, we are asking everyone to continue to play their part by observing the protocols, wearing a mask, practicing physical distancing, washing hands frequently, sanitizing and avoiding gatherings.

I also ask parents that should you or anyone in your family test for Covid-19 or a family member of the same household is in quarantine, do keep children at home while you await your results. If your child is showing any flu like symptoms or is feeling sick, keep him/her at home as well. To the bus drivers, please remember that the protocols call for ten passengers and the wearing of masks by all passengers and drivers at all times.

COVID-19 is expected to be with us for some time, so let us continue to do what is right. To the general public, I ask of you, let us continue to follow the protocols, protect one another and take personal responsibility for our health and well-being.

The Department of Education continues to be vigilant and responsive as we work in the best interest of our nation.

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By Ministry of Health

(PRESS RELEASE) – Today, January 15, 2021 the Ministry of Health received confirmation of 32 new cases of
COVID-19.

This is from a batch of 271 COVID-19 tests with 32 positives and 239 negatives.

This brings the total number of cases diagnosed in country to date to 576.
All of the cases are Saint Lucian nationals ranging in age from 3 months to 63 years.

They are from the Castries, Micoud, Babonneau and Gros-Islet districts. These individuals were seen at a community respiratory clinic, where they were assessed and tested For COVID-19.

They were placed in quarantine by health practitioners pending the receipt of their test results. Arrangements have been made to place these individuals in isolation.

At present, the contact tracing team is in the process of undertaking investigations as it relates to those cases.

The Ministry of Health also reported eight recoveries for today, Friday January 15, 2021.

There are currently 240 active cases, with one of them requiring critical care and the other active cases are stable.

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By Ministry of Health

(PRESS RELEASE) – Today, Saturday, January 16, 2021, the Ministry of Health received confirmation of 34 new cases of COVID-19.

This is a batch of 253 COVID-19 tests with 34 positives and 219 negatives. This brings the total number of cases diagnosed in country to date to 611.

All of the cases are Saint Lucian nationals ranging in age from 1 year to 64 years. They are from the Castries, Soufriere, Babonneau, Gros-Islet, Dennery, Anse La Raye and Vieux-Fort districts.

Amongst these cases, Saint Lucia also recorded two new COVID-19 related deaths.

The seventh COVID-19 related death is a 69-year-old male from the Gros-Islet district. At the time of his passing, the individual was not in care at the hospital. He has no known past medical history.

The eighth COVID-19 related death is a 49-year-old male from the Soufriere district. He was in care at the time of his passing. The individual has a history of underlying medical conditions.

The Ministry of Health expresses heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of these two individuals.

The remaining individuals were seen at a community respiratory clinic, where they were assessed and tested for COVID-19. They were placed in quarantine by health practitioners pending the receipt of their test results.

Arrangements have been made to place the remaining cases in isolation. At present, the contact tracing team is in the process of undertaking nvestigations as it relates to those cases.

Currently, there are 272 active cases, with one of them requiring critical care and the others being stable.

Over the past week, we have notice a widening of the age range of individuals being diagnosed with COVID-19. This indicates that everyone irrespective of age is at risk for contracting the various.

As such everyone needs to be protected and the necessary measures to be taken to prevent transmission.
These include:
– Frequently wash hands your with flowing water and soap
– Wear a mask when in public places and ensure it covers the mouth, nose and chin
– Maintain a six foot distance from others wherever possible
– Use a bleach solution to sanitize frequently touched surfaces and frequently handled objects
– Avoid contact with other people who have flu-like symptoms

If you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, it is important keep away from others and to urgently seek medical care at your closest community respiratory clinic for assessment.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness will continue providing updates to the public as new information becomes available.

For more information please contact the Office of the Chief Medical Officer or the Epidemiology Unit, at 468-5309/468-5317, respectively.

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By GIS

Saint Lucia is adjusting its approach to marketing the destination as pandemic disruptions in source markets continue into the new year.

Britain, for example, has entered another countrywide lockdown to combat the fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus.

Tourism Minister Hon. Dominic Fedee said measures have been instituted in hopes of maintaining the sector.

“We have been using innovative marketing techniques to see how best we can encourage individuals to come to our shores in the numbers that would make it sustainable for our hotels to remain open and for the airlines to keep flying. We do anticipate that a number of the airlines are going to scale back in terms of capacity and that will no doubt affect arrivals.”

The minister acknowledged that outbreaks in the United States also pose a challenge to the sector.

“There is a prevailing increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and the number of hospitalizations, as well as the stress on the healthcare sector within the United States. This poses significant challenges on the ability of people to travel,” he explained. “A new development that we’re seeing now is that a number of states are already requiring testing on the way back and that did not happen in the earlier stages of our reopening. This is a new challenge which is no doubt going to be an impediment for people who want to travel.”

The expected dip in arrivals due to these pandemic disruptions will break the momentum set in December 2020 which peaked at 10,000. While this represents 25 percent of figures recorded for that period in the previous year, under pandemic conditions, it was viewed as high performance.

Minister Fedee said that many hotels had a very good last week of the year. Boxing Day arrivals registered over 1000.

“This figure is close to the number of arrivals that we would have had pre-COVID-19. So there were some flashes of brilliance but the environment doesn’t lend itself to being conducive for people to be able to travel in the volumes that they did pre-COVID-19. We expect to see tremendous fall-out in comparison to how we have done in 2019 when we broke the record of 423,000 visitors.”

Hon. Dominic Fedee addressed the media during a Saint Lucia Tourism Authority briefing held on Jan. 6.

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By Ministry of Health

(PRESS RELEASE) — The Ministry of Health and Wellness on Sunday, January 17, 2021 received confirmation of 11 new cases of COVID-19.

This is from a batch of 133 COVID-19 tests conducted at the Ezra Long Laboratory, from which 11 positive and 122 negative tests were recorded. This brings the total number of cases diagnosed in country to date to 621.

One of the cases is a non-national who is a 29-year-old female. The individual tested
positive while in country and has since been repatriated to the United Kingdom. The other 10 cases are Saint Lucian nationals ranging in age from 24 years to 61 years.

They are from the Castries, Vieux-Fort, Anse La Raye and Gros-Islet districts. These individuals were all seen at a community respiratory clinic, where they were assessed and tested for COVID-19.

They were placed in quarantine by health
practitioners pending the receipt of their COVID-19 test results. Arrangements have
been made to place these individuals in isolation. The contact tracing team is currently in the process of undertaking necessary investigations as it relates to the contacts of these cases.

At present there are 282 active cases in care, with one of them requiring critical care and the others are all stable.

As we commence another week of school and work week, the Ministry of Health provides another reminder to the public of the importance of daily practicing the recommended infection prevention and control measures to reduce the spread of the virus:
– Frequently wash hands your with flowing water and soap
– Wear a mask when in public places and ensure it covers the mouth, nose and chin
– Maintain a six foot distance from others wherever possible
– Use a bleach solution to sanitize frequently touched surfaces and frequently handled objects
– Avoid contact with other people who have flu-like symptoms.

If you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, it is important keep away from others and to
urgently seek medical care at your closest community respiratory clinic for assessment.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness will continue providing updates to the public as new information becomes available.

For more information please contact the Office of the Chief Medical Officer or the
Epidemiology Unit, at 468-5309/468-5317 respectively

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By Ministry of Education

(PRESS RELEASE) – The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations informs parents and guardians that the Babonneau Secondary School will reverts to Distributed Learning for the period Jan. 18 to 20.

The decision was taken out of an abundance of caution for our students, staff and wider community, as some of the teachers may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus.

The Department continues to work with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and other stakeholders to ensure a safe and healthy teaching and learning environment.

The Department undertakes to monitor the situation and inform of any major developments.

As the nation continues to battle the Covid-19 Pandemic, be reminded to continue to observe the health protocols of wearing masks, washing hands, sanitizing, maintaining physical distance and limiting social activities.

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By Ministry of Health

(PRESS RELEASE) – Today, Monday January 18, 2021, the Ministry of Health and Wellness received confirmation of 35 new cases of COVID-19.

This is from a batch of 126 COVID-
19 tests conducted at the Ezra Long Laboratory, from which 35 positive and 91 negative Tests were recorded. This brings the total number of cases diagnosed in country to date to 656.

All of these cases are Saint Lucian nationals ranging in age from 14 years to 66 years.

They are from the Castries, Vieux-Fort, Anse La Raye, Dennery, Babonneau, Micoud and Gros-Islet districts. These individuals were all seen at a community respiratory clinic, where they were
assessed and tested for COVID-19. They were placed in quarantine by health
practitioners pending their COVID-19 results.

Upon receiving their test results
arrangements have been made to place all these individuals into care. The Ministry’s
contact tracing team is undertaking necessary follow-up on the contacts of these cases.

The Ministry of Health also reports seven recoveries for today Monday January 18,
2021. Currently, there are 310 active cases in care, with one of them requiring critical
care and the others are all stable.

The Ministry of Health once again encourages everyone to practice daily the recommended infection prevention and control measures to reduce the spread of the virus:
– Frequently wash hands your with flowing water and soap
– Wear a mask when in public places and ensure it covers the mouth, nose and chin
– Maintain a six foot distance from others wherever possible
– Use a bleach solution to sanitize frequently touched surfaces and frequently handled objects
– Avoid contact with other people who have flu-like symptoms

If you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, it is important keep away from others and to
urgently seek medical care at your closest community respiratory clinic for assessment.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness will continue providing updates to the public as new information becomes available.

For more information please contact the Office of the Chief Medical Officer or the
Epidemiology Unit, at 468-5309/468-5317 respectively.

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