Tourism minister supports lockdown if Covid-19 cases spike
If a sharp rise in Covid-19 infections forces a new shutdown in Antigua and Barbuda, the already struggling tourism sector will no doubt plummet – but the man at the helm of that industry is nonetheless supporting suggestions to partially close the country.
Information Minister Melford Nicholas said last week that government could be left with no choice but to embark on a national lockdown if Covid-19 numbers continue to climb.
Antigua and Barbuda currently has 27 active cases out of the 189 confirmed to date, while six people have died.
Yesterday, Tourism Minister Charles “Max” Fernandez told Observer that while tourism will receive the hardest blow of any such lockdown, the lives of residents are paramount.
Pfizer vaccine may be the first to reach A&B
This illustration picture taken on November 23, 2020 shows a bottle reading Vaccine Covid-19 and a syringe next to the Pfizer and Biontech logo. - The European Commission has signed five contracts to pre-order vaccines, among which with the U.S.-German company Pfizer-BioNTech (up to 300 million doses). (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP) (Photo by JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)
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The Pfizer vaccine appears to be the shot that will be provided through the World Health Organisation’s Covax facility during its initial rollout.
Information Minister Melford Nicholas made the disclosure during Thursday’s post-Cabinet briefing based on reports from the Minister of Health Molwyn Joseph.
Talks underway to address overcrowding on public buses
The government said it will be revisiting a decision to allow public buses to operate at full capacity, due to a steady increase in coronavirus cases over the past few days.
Information Minister Melford Nicholas revealed on Thursday that talks are being held with the General Manager of the Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board (ABTB) and members of the Antigua and Barbuda Bus Association to discuss possible incentives for drivers to cushion the financial impact that will arise when they operate at limited capacity.
The reduction of taxes on fuel is one of the possible incentives that is currently on the table. The matter was discussed at length during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
The age of digitised medical records has come
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Work is ongoing to fully digitise the medical records of patients.
Information Minister Melford Nicholas said that three IT specialists are currently discussing the matter, even though a vendor of the software is yet to be decided.
He also said that these experts have been working on developing the full set of guidelines which the Mount St John’s Medical Centre (MSJMC), the Hannah Thomas Hospital, the MBS, and the proposed National Health Insurance scheme will be able to utilise to bill patients and/or their insurance companies for services rendered.