Prime Minister of Grenada, Dr Keith Mitchell has announced steps to reopen the island’s tourism sector in the coming months.
Speaking in an interview, Mitchell said commercial fights from the United Kingdom and hotel properties including the Sandals Resort, will be reopened in two months.
“The UK airlines have now reported that they will be resuming flights from April which coincide with the movement by some of the hotels to reopen.”
Sandals, Grenada’s largest all-inclusive resort will also be reopening in early April.
In December 2020, the hotel announced a suspension of operations after the Government disclosed that a cluster of COVID-19 cases had been identified among staf
“All efforts are being made to put all systems in place to protect the country as far as the virus is concerned and I must say that we are getting cooperation from the tourism sector at all levels,” he said.
The decision, which was in line with that taken by several other countries, was aimed at preventing, as best as possible, the introduction into Grenada of the COVID-19 strain discovered in the UK.
A group of African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries have supported India for supplying COVID-19 vaccines to different developing and least developed nations.
During a discussion at the WTO (World Trade Organisation), a group of Latin American member states including Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Paraguay have also expressed their concerns on the export restrictions imposed by European Union on COVID-19 vaccines and their trade distorting impact.
St. Lucia, on behalf of CARICOM group of countries expressed appreciation and thanked India and South Africa for vaccine supplies to them.
CARICOM is a grouping of Caribbean countries that includes Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, and Saint Lucia.
“We thank the Government of India and South Africa as well as the African Union for their generosity and solidarity at this time. The Government of India, through the generosity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has donated an initial instalment of 1,70,000 vaccines to Barbados and Dominica through bilateral arrangements,” St. Lucia has said adding that India has dispatched an additional 1,75,000 vaccines to five CARICOM member states.
Similarly, in its intervention, Jamaica, on behalf of ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) Group of countries, also thanked Indian efforts in delivering vaccine supplies to developing and least-developed countries (LDCs).
Jamaica has said, “There is absolutely no place for vaccine nationalism in this crisis, as no member is spared the impact of the virus until all members are able to contain its spread. Therefore, we recognize the efforts of countries such as India and South Africa that have arranged delivery of vaccines to many developing countries and LDCs.”
The interview with Winfrey, which will air in the US on Sunday and in the UK on Monday, is expected to detail Harry and Meghan’s short period as working royals together before they stepped down for a life in the US.
In the 30-second teaser clip released by CBS, Winfrey asks the duchess: “How do you feel about the palace hearing you speak your truth today?”
Meghan replies: “I don’t know how they could expect that, after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit their roles as senior working royals in March 2020, and now live in California.
According to the story, it was made in October 2018, while the duke and duchess were living at Kensington Palace after their marriage in May of that year.
A leaked email sent from a staff member, which was published by the newspaper, alleges that Meghan drove two personal assistants out of the household. The report claims she undermined the confidence of a third member of staff.
In a statement later, Buckingham Palace – which is responsible for the hiring of royal staff – said it was “clearly very concerned about allegations in the Times” and its HR team would look into the circumstances outlined in the article.
“The Royal Household has had a Dignity at Work policy in place for a number of years and does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.”
The gloves have come off
If anyone thought Prince Harry and Meghan were going to restrict their criticism to the British media, a sector they have made clear they loathe, they should think again. “The Firm” – aka the Royal Family and its staff- is clearly in their sights.
This isn’t directly about the allegations of bullying levelled at Meghan, and also to a lesser degree Harry. They were published after the interview was recorded. But the couple see the allegations as an example of how some people in the palace brief against them.
We’ll have to wait for the interview to find out exactly what “falsehoods” the couple believe have been put out by the palace. The bullying allegations – which are vigorously denied by the couple – are being investigated.
But it’s clear that the gloves have come off, and that the ties of family have not restrained the couple as they seek to put their side of the story.
Past and present royal employees are to be invited to speak in confidence about their experiences of working for Meghan as part of the investigation.
‘Attack on her character’
The bullying allegations are denied by Meghan and Prince Harry.
A statement issued by Meghan’s spokesman in response to the newspaper’s story said: “The duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma.
“She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good.”
Prince Harry has previously said the decision to step back was in order to protect himself and his family from the press.
image captionThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex now live in California
Meghan and Prince Harry’s TV interview with Oprah Winfrey will be aired on CBS in the US on the evening of Sunday 7 March.
In the UK, the interview will be screened on ITV at 21:00 GMT on Monday 8 March.
CBS has said Meghan will be interviewed about “stepping into life as a royal, marriage, motherhood” and “how she is handling life under intense public pressure”.
She will then be joined by Prince Harry, and the couple will speak about their move to the US last year and their future plans.
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The two biggest cities in each of the neighboring South American countries are headed in opposite directions, reflecting how those that loosen restrictions despite warnings from scientists see a spike in the pandemic while others that keep social distancing measures in place are able to reopen their economies sooner.
Sao Paulo, home to almost 12 million people, is bracing for the worst two weeks yet in the pandemic and the growing risk that its once-resilient health care system will collapse, Gov. João Doria told reporters Wednesday. More than 75% of the city’s intensive-care beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients and some wards — like those of the private Albert Einstein hospital — are full for the first time.
Doria announced that the entire state, where 46 million people reside, on Saturday will face the highest level of restrictions to arrest the virus’ spread. That means closure of all bars, restaurants, shopping malls and any other establishment deemed non-essential until at least March 19.
Meanwhile, the nearly 3 million residents of Buenos Aires are enjoying an easing of their restrictions, with authorization to attend movie theaters taking effect this week. On Wednesday, official figures showed just 26% of intensive-care beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients. The low hospitalization rate also enabled local authorities in mid-February to reopen bars and restaurants until 2 a.m. — something long sought in a city famous for its all-hours culture.
That means Buenos Aires’ famed steakhouses are reigniting their fires, while counterparts in Sao Paulo extinguish theirs.
Buenos Aires’ casinos also reopened at the end of 2020, and authorities are discussing whether the soccer-crazy city will be able to return to the stadiums soon. In Brazil, despite President Jair Bolsonaro’s push to allow fans back, no local authorities are seriously considering opening stadiums. The 48,000-seater NeoQuimica arena on the east side of Sao Paulo is being used as a vaccination post.
Some good news from the Sao Paulo region came on Tuesday, when soccer great Pelé received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The 80-year-old posted the news on his social media channels.
“The pandemic is not over yet. We must keep discipline to preserve lives until many people have taken the vaccine,” the three-time World Cup winner said. “When you go out please don’t forget your mask and maintain social distance.”
His plea is important — even one year after the pandemic began — as Bolsonaro continues to cast doubt on the effectiveness of masks.
The distance between the two nations has seemingly widened during the pandemic, with Bolsonaro and Argentina’s Alberto Fernández adopting opposite tacks in their handling of the crisis. The former downplayed the disease’s risks and has insisted on keeping the economy churning, while the latter has taken a more cautious approach.
Fernández imposed one of the longest quarantines in the world between March and October, despite risks of damaging an economy already in a recession.
Over the past week, Brazil has recorded 35 COVID-19 deaths per million residents, almost triple that of Argentina.
Troubles in Sao Paulo worsened after furtive Carnival celebrations in mid-February. Though street celebrations and parades were canceled, many paulistas, as residents are known, traveled or joined unmasked gatherings. The city declined to allow days off work traditionally allowed during the Carnival period, in a bid to keep people from partying.
Izidoro Silveira, 34, got a job waiting tables at a pizzeria in downtown Sao Paulo two months ago, after almost a full year unemployed. He’s upset about his restaurant’s imminent shutdown.
“Those doing deliveries won’t be hurt, but I and many others will,” a distressed Silveira said as he watched a televised news broadcast about the shutdown. “I don’t know what to tell my wife and my daughter. I’m afraid I’ll lose my job again, even though I work at a place that takes all precautions.”
Not far away, movie theaters on the city’s main drag, Paulista Avenue, are empty, just as they have been since the pandemic first began.
Argentina’s ease doesn’t mean the virus is completely under control. Wednesday’s official figures showed 262 deaths and more than 8,700 new infections in the country. Vaccine rollout is slow. But the overwhelming gloom seen in Sao Paulo seems to be far from Buenos Aires.
With a bag of popcorn in one hand and a soft drink in the other, 8-year-old Bautista Sundblat was eager to enter a movie theater in Buenos Aires’ tony Palermo neighborhood to watch “Bad Boys Forever”.
“He’s very excited,” said his mother, Martina. “We’d been waiting for a long time. There are few seats, everything has been taken care of. He’s a movie fanatic. There’s still a long way to go, but little by little we’re getting where we wanted.”
Experts think Brazil’s second wave may be linked to a new variant of the coronavirus
Brazil on Wednesday registered its highest daily number of Covid deaths since the pandemic started.
The health ministry said 1,910 people had died with Covid in the previous 24 hours, the second day in a row of record deaths.
The record was reached as scientists said that a new variant first found in Brazil appears more contagious.
Brazil has the second highest coronavirus death toll after the US, at more than a quarter of a million.
What’s the situation in Brazil?
Across the country, there have been more than 10.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus. Only the US and India have registered more.
The pandemic spread quickly after first arriving in Brazil and reached a first peak at the end of July, when daily new cases were above 70,000 and daily deaths above 1,500.
Cases and deaths across Brazil fell until early November before a second wave saw cases rise again, a rise which appears to have further accelerated since January.
FILE PHOTO: A healthcare worker hands over doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a doctor at Messe Wien Congress Center, which has been set up as coronavirus disease vaccination centre, in Vienna, Austria February 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
VIENNA/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Austria and Denmark, chafing at the slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines within the European Union, have joined forces with Israel to produce second- generation vaccines against mutations of the coronavirus.
The move by the two EU member states comes amid rising anger over delays in ordering, approving and distributing vaccines that have left the 27-member bloc trailing far behind Israel’s world-beating vaccination campaign.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said it was right that the EU procures vaccines for its member states but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had been too slow to approve them and lambasted pharmaceutical companies’ supply bottlenecks.
“We must therefore prepare for further mutations and should no longer be dependent only on the EU for the production of second-generation vaccines,” the conservative chancellor said in a statement on Tuesday.
Danish Prime Minister Danish Mette Frederiksen was also critical of the EU’s vaccine program.
“I don’t think it can stand alone, because we need to increase capacity. That is why we are now fortunate to start a partnership with Israel,” she told reporters on Monday.
When asked whether Denmark and Austria wanted to take unilateral action in obtaining vaccines, Frederiksen said: “You can call it that.”
The European Commission said member states were free to strike separate deals should they wish to. “It’s not that the strategy unravelled or it goes against the strategy, not at all,” spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said.
An EMA spokeswoman did not have an immediate comment.
FIRST MOVERS?
Kurz and Frederiksen are due to travel to Israel this week to see Israel’s rapid vaccine roll-out up close.
Israel, which was quick to sign contracts for and to approve vaccines from U.S. drug makers Pfizer and Moderna, has given 94 doses per 100 people and the EU just seven, according to monitoring by Our World in Data.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the campaign a showcase of his bid for re-election on March 23, has spoken of “an international corporation for manufacturing vaccines”.
None of the three countries has significant vaccine making capacity, however, raising questions over how realistic their ambitions are to gain greater self-sufficiency.
A growing number of EU countries have placed side orders for vaccines from Russia and China, even though the EMA has yet to rule on whether they are both safe and effective.
Slovakia said on Monday it had ordered 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and expects half to arrive this month to help it end a surge in infections.
The neighbouring Czech Republic – tackling the worst COVID-19 outbreak of any EU country – is also considering ordering Russia’s Sputnik V.
Hungary, meanwhile, has taken delivery of a vaccine developed by China’s Sinopharm, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban announcing on Sunday that he had received the shot.
The three vaccines so far cleared for use in the EU, made by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, rely on production in countries including Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Kurz said Austria and Denmark would work with Israel on vaccine production against mutations of the coronavirus and jointly research treatment options in an alliance called the First Movers Group.
The initiative, which seeks greater protection against future pandemics in addition to joint EU vaccine supply, follows Germany’s decision last month to set up a task force to address supply bottlenecks and boost local manufacturing.
Kurz invited pharmaceutical companies with a local presence including Pfizer, Valneva, Novartis, Polymun and Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday to discuss the new initiative.
Pfizer, which declined comment for this story, has said it will make 2 billion doses this year – 70% of them in the EU – and has conducted extensive research into their effectiveness against coronavirus variants.
A spokesman for Boehringer Ingelheim said its focus was not on human vaccines “but if we receive requests we will of course look into them.”
(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt and Robert Muller and Jason Hovet in Prague; Writing by Douglas Busvine and Caroline Copley; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
FRANCE OPPOSES THE MOVES
France has criticised a push by Austria and Denmark to coordinate with Israel on developing new Covid-19 jabs, as EU unity frays even further over its troubled vaccine rollout, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. It says:
The Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced the Israeli partnership on Monday, saying the European Medicines Agency (EMA) was “too slow in approving vaccines” leaving the bloc vulnerable to supply bottlenecks at pharmaceutical companies.
But France’s foreign ministry defended the agency and insisted that “the most effective solution for meeting our vaccination needs must remain within a European framework”.
“This is what guarantees the solidarity among member states that is more essential than ever,” it said on Wednesday.
European officials are under pressure to step up vaccination drives that have lagged behind those of other countries, including Israel and Britain, which approved coronavirus vaccines several weeks before the EMA.
“We should not be solely dependent on the EU any more,” Kurz said ahead of a trip to Israel with his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen on Thursday to agree on common production of future vaccines and cooperation on research.
Austria’s neighbours Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic have already bypassed the EMA to approve Russian and Chinese coronavirus vaccines.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian acknowledged “significant” shortcomings in the EU’s vaccination policies on Wednesday, but criticised what he called “attempts at secession”.
European nations should instead pool their resources to increase vaccine production capacity in Europe, “something we are in the process of doing”, the ministry said in its statement.
“The approval process for the European market has also been reviewed, with the introduction of ‘emergency procedures’ for vaccines targeting new variants,” it added.
=============================================
US CATHOLICS TOLD TO AVOID jOHNSON & JOHNSON VACCINE
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—the official group representing the church in the U.S.—urged Catholics Tuesday to avoid taking the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine if other options are available, saying the J&J vaccine “raises questions about the moral permissibility”—even though Johnson & Johnson has stated it did not use fetal tissues in its vaccine.
U.S. Catholics are being told to avoid the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine if other options, like … [+]NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
KEY FACTS
The directive says the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be avoided since it was “developed, tested and is produced with abortion-derived cell lines.”
In a statement to Forbes, Johnson & Johnson said “there is no fetal tissue” in its vaccine, adding the company used an “engineered cell-line system that enables the rapid production of new viral vaccines to combat many of the most dangerous infectious diseases,” though it did not offer further specifics on its process.
Pfizer and Moderna, on the other hand, did not use aborion-derived cell lines in production, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas—chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities—said in a statement.
The J&J vaccine was approved for U.S. use on Saturday, and has been touted as a major step in vaccinating the population since the vaccine only requires one shot, while the other two approved so far both require two doses.
The statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is the most significant opposition the J&J vaccine has coming from an official body of the Catholic church, and follows a well-publicized statement last week from the New Orleans Archdiocese.
The Vatican released a statement in December after questions were raised over vaccine ethics, in which it asserted “it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses” in cases where “ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available.”
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“If one can choose among equally safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, the vaccine with the least connection to abortion-derived cell lines should be chosen,” Naumann said. “Therefore, if one has the ability to choose a vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccines should be chosen over Johnson & Johnson’s.”
CHIEF CRITIC
President Joe Biden, also known for his strong Catholic faith and being only the second-ever Catholic president, praised the vaccine’s approval over the weekend, calling it “exciting news for all Americans.”
KEY BACKGROUND
The Vatican made its statement in December after citing “diverse and sometimes conflicting pronouncements in the mass media by bishops, Catholic associations, and experts” when it came to vaccine ethics, especially given that there has also been concern around Pfizer and Moderna’s development practices. One week before the Vatican released its statement, the U.S. Conference of Bishops said Pfizer and Moderna vaccines came from a “remote connection to morally compromised cell lines,” while saying a potential vaccine from AstraZeneca was “more morally compromised” when it came to abortion.
Russia expects several European Union countries to approve the use of its Sputnik V vaccine this month and Moscow could provide vaccines for 50 million Europeans starting from June if the shot wins EU-wide approval, Russia’s RDIF fund has said.
Reuters quoted Kirill Dmitriev, the chief executive of the fund tasked with promoting Sputnik V internationally, as saying the shot could act as a bridge between Russia and Europe – and that its potential roll-out should not get bogged down in politics.
He was speaking after the European Medicines Agency said it had begun a rolling review of Sputnik V.
The German chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders have agreed a phased easing of coronavirus curbs along with an “emergency brake” to let authorities reimpose restrictions if case numbers spike again, Reuters reports.
With elections looming, Merkel and the regional leaders have faced growing pressure to set out plans to restore normal activities after four months of lockdown. However, daily cases are creeping up again and only around 5% of the population have received a first vaccine shot.
“We are at the threshold of a new phase of the pandemic that we can go into not carelessly but still with justified hope,” Merkel told reporters on Wednesday after what she described as “tough negotiations” with the regional chiefs.
According to Reuters, the leaders agreed to use the full length of the approved interval between first and second vaccinations and to minimise stockpiling of booster shots to get more people started on the two-shot course.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommends giving Pfizer and BioNTech’s injections three weeks apart and AstraZeneca’s up to 12 weeks apart.
They also said they expected a decision soon from Germany’s standing committee on vaccination on administering the AstraZeneca shot to over-65s, “in order to be able to adjust the vaccination schedule accordingly”.
Germany currently only allows the AstraZeneca vaccine to be given to people aged 18 to 64, which has led to a low take-up of available doses, slowing vaccination efforts.
We will have a fast-track approach to safely approving future vaccines that work against a variant of Covid-19.
The vaccine programme has clearly been a huge UK success story, and part of the reason that we have been able to develop the vaccines so far so quickly is because of the MHRA’s rigorous yet flexible approach, which has been based entirely on looking as quickly as possible at the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
I’m delighted that they’re taking that same principled approach to the approval process for vaccines that may work against variants.
The MHRA’s chief executive Dr June Raine said there’s no evidence current vaccines are lacking effectiveness against known variants.
Since December last year, we have all been concerned about the appearance of variants – Kent, South Africa, more recently Brazil – and, therefore, we’re well-prepared to look at, when it’s needed, updates to ensure the vaccines being used in citizens are fully effective.
Our goal is to ensure that the vaccine modifications in future that respond to the new variants can be available in the shortest possible time but without compromising in any way on safety, on quality and on effectiveness.
What I would emphasise at the outset is that we don’t have evidence at the moment that the vaccines in use in the UK are significantly lacking in effectiveness but we are now well-prepared.
It has now been nearly a year since 4-year-old Sebastián García stepped into a classroom.
When the pandemic forced schools in Colombia’s capital to close last March, his kindergarten teacher tried to keep up with lessons through a once-a-week phone call. Later, the school began offering instruction through Zoom.But for the last two months, his mother has heard nothing from the school.
“The teacher told me to check periodically when the school was reopening,” said his mother, Lorena Mora, a manicurist living in Bogota. “But I haven’t heard anything up until today.”
A new study released Wednesday by UNICEF concludes what many in Latin America and the Caribbean have suspected: Children in the region have lost out on more schooling during the pandemic than any other area across the globe. In all, almost 60% of children worldwide who have lost an entire year of school are in Latin America. On average, schools in the region have been fully closed for 158 days.
“Children here have been out of the classroom longer than any other child in the world,” said Jean Gough, UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “In many parts of the world, schools are the first to reopen and the last to close. But in Latin America and the Caribbean, schools are often the last to open and the first to close”.
The impact could be felt for years to come, the U.N. agency warns, noting that keeping schools closed can have devastating consequences not just in children’s learning, but also in developing social skills, overall wellbeing, and psycho-emotional development. The most disadvantaged – those with no access to online learning – are at a higher risk of never returning to school and entering the workforce instead.
“When schools are not open, children cannot develop transferable skills, such as the ability to work in a team, to communicate, to have empathy, to respect diversity and other key skills for active citizenship,” said Margarete Sachs-Israel, regional education advisor for UNICEF.
María Fuentes, a child psychologist at a primary school in Mexico City, has seen first hand how the reliance on online learning is impacting young children. Mexico has the fourth highest total number of COVID-19 numbers in Latin America, according to John Hopkins University. The Secretary of Public Education launched a distance education program during the pandemic that offers educational content on television certain days of the week.
“Unfortunately there is an increase in anxiety and stress levels in children,” Fuentes said. “We have little kids with difficulties expressing and managing their emotions in a functional way.”
In schools that have begun reopening, educators say they are already seeing the impact of a year away from class. Sara Fonseca, a preschool teacher based in Bogota, says being at home shielded many children from developing skills like independent decision-making and learning how to treat others.
“Socialization has become very difficult for the children,” she said. “Homes are generally more controlled environments because they have their parents close by and interact with very few people.”
Several studies indicate the pandemic has also deepened already steep levels of inequality in education. Children from lower-income families are often unable to access remote learning and public schools do not have the infrastructure and resources to reopen immediately in a safe way.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, schools are also often the place where children have access to their most nutritious meals. The school where Mora’s son used to attend classes sent them a small bag of groceries once a month to compensate for the meals he was not getting at school last year.
“It included one pound of rice, grains, powder milk, oil, pasta, eggs,” Mora said. “But this was last year. Since we have had no notice of the school’s reopening, we have not gotten the groceries in 2021.”
Sachs-Israel estimates there are 85 million children that do not have access to school and might be at risk for malnutrition. But there are other risks children in the region face. Another U.N. study found that more than 300,000 children and adolescents in the region could be forced to work.
“We know from other crises, like Ebola, that there’s a high risk of students dropping out,” she said. “Our projections show there is a risk of 3.1 million students dropping out permanently in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Latin America and the Caribbean is known to be the most unequal region in the world along with Sub-Saharan Africa. The pandemic has further deepened these gaps. According to UNICEF, children from indigenous groups, those with disabilities, kids from remote areas, poor families, and girlsare at a higher risk. Girls are also at risk of becoming victims of sexual abuse, a problem that has already increased and will further increase the longer schools are closed.
UNICEF acknowledged the decision and efforts made by several governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to the reopening of schools. Countries like Uruguay, which had gradual reopenings last year, starting withrural schools and ending with schools in Montevideo, could set an example of proper procedure in the region, the U.N. said. UNICEF is calling on other governments in the region to prioritize reopening.
Bogota’s mayor announced in February that schools 400 public schools in the city would reopen by April.
“This is a return to a new school,” Mayor Claudia Lopez said, describing safety precuations like mask wearing, hand washing stations and social distancing that will be employed. “A better school.”
In the meantime, Lorena Mora and young Sebastián wait to hear back from their kindergarten. Sebastián plays at home where he is taken care of by his grandmother and a trustworthy neighbor.
“I don’t know if I should start looking for another school,” Mora said. “Because it’s been two months without any news.”
A Gold Coast Health spokesperson confirmed the person has a history of anaphylaxis and recovered quickly from the reaction.
"The response was prompt and effective and the patient received the appropriate treatment and has since recovered," they said.
"Anaphylaxis has been identified as a possible side effect from any vaccination. Staff are well prepared for this and stringent processes are in place to manage such reactions."
They confirmed the worker received the appropriate treatment and has since recovered.
Not the first reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine
Health authorities have assured the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective and will protect you from the virus.
Gold Coast Health advise that you must not get a COVID-19 vaccine if you have had a severe allergic reaction to a previous dose of the same COVID-19 vaccine or any kind of anaphylaxis after exposure to any ingredient of the vaccine.
"All vaccines given in Australia have passed tests to prove they are safe and work well," they confirmed.
While this is believed to be the first case of an Australian having an adverse reaction to an approved coronavirus vaccine, there have been other incidents internationally.
In December, UK regulators were tasked with investigating two incidents of allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine on the first day it was approved for a mass rollout.
The two affected people were staff members with the National Health Service who had a history of allergies, however they both recovered immediately from their symptoms.
"As is common with new vaccines it is advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely,'' Professor Stephen Powis, medical director for the NHS in England, said in a statement.
Two Alaskan healthcare workers were among six Americans who also experienced allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine in the first days of its release, being hospitalised immediately after receiving it in December.
Sgt. Jacques Duroseau, a competitor with the Marine Corps Shooting Team, jumps over a four-foot wall during a 2016 competition. He will spend more than 5 years in prison for smuggling weapons to his native Haiti. Sgt. Terence Brady Defense Media Activity
As a young boy in Haiti, Jacques Duroseau witnessed two coup-d’etats by the time he turned 9, enduring a childhood scarred by poverty, hurricanes and earthquakes.
In 1994, he watched American troops roll through his neighborhood “and take on the criminals, thugs and cartels,” federal court documents said. Seeing them, he found his life’s ambition: Join the Marines.
The ex-Marine stood before U.S. District Court Judge James C. Dever in Raleigh and recited a speech from Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, best known as the lyrics to the Bob Marley song “War.”
And Duroseau vowed to continue his struggle.
“I see positivity even in the shadow of darkness,” he said, adding later, “I fight for the poor man. The ones that don’t have any voice.”
Boxes and suitcases full of guns
In 2019, Duroseau and an unidentified accomplice came to the airport in New Bern, checking three suitcases and three plastic boxes full of guns and ammunition, declaring them before boarding the plane, according to Duroseau’s indictment.
Customs agents in Haiti found eight guns in his luggage, including a Ruger model Precision Rifle 300WIN MAG and a Spike’s Tactical model ST15. He also carried body armor, optic scopes and other equipment. Navy investigators found receipts from a Jacksonville gun shop in Duroseau’s trash.
“One of his statements was he wanted to be president of Haiti,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sebastian Kielmanovich, recalling Duroseau’s December trial. With such significant weapons, he added, “It’s not for self-defense. It’s to kill people.”
Duroseau boarded the flight and traveled through Charlotte and Miami to Haiti, The Miami Herald previously reported. In Haiti, Duroseau was met by someone whose role was to “expeditiously move Mr. Duroseau through the airport and customs process and to help him with his bags as he checked through that process,” Naval investigators said.
In December 2019, Duroseau was returned to North Carolina. A federal judge ordered that he be detained until trial, citing the weight of evidence against him, his “significant ties outside the United States” and the “erratic behavior leading to his arrest,” court filings show. Jurors convicted him on five counts in December.
Duroseau reportedly became agitated when he was asked to fill out a customs declaration form, resulting in an altercation with a Haitian police officer.
“From the reports we received, it appears that he actually slapped a Haitian police officer, which drew the attention of further Haitian officers and that once again led to him being detained and a secondary inspection being conducted,” Naval investigators said.
Sgt. Jacques Yves Duroseau photographed in 2016 competing with the the Marine Corps Shooting Team. He will spend more than 5 years in prison for smuggling weapons to his native Haiti. Sgt. Terence Brady Defense Media Activity – Marines
Defense cites brain injury
At his sentencing hearing Tuesday, federal public defender Edward Gray said Duroseau only meant to help his country’s neediest people and had no intention of overthrowing its government.
Gray noted Duroseau’s Marine service, for which he earned multiple honors, and noted that Duroseau earned his citizenship while fighting in Afghanistan. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury there, adding to post-traumatic stress already troubling him since childhood.
Before going to Haiti, Gray said, Duroseau sought a meeting with its ambassador and was instructed to “stay in his lane” by superior officers.
“It was tough for him to just sit there and say, ‘This is something I need to ignore,’ “ Gray said.
Dever declined to sentence Duroseau outside of advisory federal guidelines, giving him 63 months in federal prison but also ordering mental health treatment and job training. But he said the defendant’s sentence should not be reduced because of his military service, mental health issues or desire to right wrongs in his native country.
“There’s a proper way to do that,” Dever said, “and this is not one of those proper ways.”
Before federal marshals escorted him out, Duroseau gave a second statement in a halting voice. He recalled being sent back to the United States, when a correctional officer in Haiti told him, “When they are done with you, you can come back to us. We know why you did what you did.”
McClatchy journalist Hayley Fowler contributed to this story.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Wednesday said that he will not resign despite growing pressure to do so after three women leveled sexual harassment allegations against him.
“Some politicians will always play politics. That’s the nature of the beast. I don’t think today is a day for politics. I wasn’t elected by politicians, I was elected by the people of the state of New York. I’m not going to resign. I work for the people of the state of New York, they elected me, and I’m going to serve the people of the state of New York,” Cuomo said at a press conference.
The defiant stance comes as pressure mounts on him to leave office over the allegations, as well as over complaints about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in nursing homes last year.
Three women have accused Cuomo of inappropriate behavior. One former employee said he kissed her without permission. Another aide accused him of asking inappropriate questions about her sex life. A third woman said he made unwanted sexual advances at a wedding.
Letitia James, New York’s Democratic attorney general, has opened up an independent investigation into the claims.
During the press conference, which marked the governor’s first public appearance since the sexual harassment allegations surfaced, he adopted an apologetic tone but maintained he never touched anyone “inappropriately.”
“First, I fully support a woman’s right to come forward. And I think it should be encouraged in every way. I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable. It was unintentional, and I truly and deeply apologize for it. I feel awful about it, and frankly, I am embarrassed by it. And that’s not easy to say. But that’s the truth,” Cuomo said.
“But this is what I want you to know, and I want you to know this from me directly. I never touched anyone inappropriately. I never touched anyone inappropriately. I never knew at the time that I was making anyone feel uncomfortable. I never knew at the time I was making anyone feel uncomfortable. And I certainly never ever meant to offend anyone or hurt anyone or cause anyone any pain,” he added.
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo apologizes for acting “in a way that made people feel uncomfortable” but denies that he touched anyone inappropriately pic.twitter.com/CzYhhGB0rb
When asked about the allegations brought by Anna Ruch, who said Cuomo put his hand on her lower back at a wedding reception before moving it to her cheeks and asking if he could kiss her, the governor chalked up her remarks to his penchant for hugging people he meets.
“I understand the opinion and feelings of Ms. Ruch, and you’re right, you can find hundreds of pictures of me making the same gesture with hundreds of people. Women, men, children, etc. You can go find hundreds of pictures of me kissing people, men, women. It is my usual and customary way of greeting,” he said.
Cuomo had already committed to cooperating with James’s inquiry and called on New Yorkers to await the release of her report before making any judgements.
“I ask the people of this state to wait for the facts from the attorney general’s report before forming an opinion. Get the facts, please, before forming an opinion. And the attorney general is doing that review, I will fully cooperate with it, and then you will have the facts, and make a decision when you know the facts,” he said.
Cuomo’s remarks were swiftly met with pushback by a lawyer for Charlotte Bennett, the accuser who said Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life.
“The Governor’s press conference was full of falsehoods and inaccurate information, and New Yorkers deserve better,” attorney Debra Katz said in a statement. “The Governor repeatedly said he never touched anyone inappropriately. Ms. Ruch’s story makes clear that’s not accurate. The Governor repeatedly said he had no idea he made anyone uncomfortable. My client, Charlotte Bennett, reported his sexually harassing behavior immediately to his Chief of Staff and Chief Counsel.”
Besides the allegations from Ruch, Bennett and Lindsey Boylan, Cuomo is also facing fierce backlash over the revelation that his office undercounted the number of coronavirus deaths in New York nursing homes. As a result, state lawmakers voted to strip him of emergency powers that were granted to fight the pandemic.
Rep. Kathleen Rice on Monday became the first Democratic member of Congress from New York to urge Cuomo to quit, though a few Democratic state lawmakers had already indicated their desire for Cuomo’s ouster.
“I firmly believe that the governor’s resignation is for the good of the state at this point,” state Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara (D) told The Hill on Monday. “He’s finally getting the hint that he’s not going to get away with this.”
Similar calls only grew Tuesday, when six state legislators aligned with democratic socialists and the Working Families Party said Cuomo should resign.
The dual controversies have taken a toll on Cuomo’s standing in New York. An Emerson College/WPIX-TV/NewsNation poll released Tuesday found that 64 percent of state voters surveyed said Cuomo should not be reelected in next year’s election. In a blaring warning sign for Cuomo, 48 percent of Democrats said he did not deserve another term.
Cuomo’s diminished standing could decrease his negotiating power in what are expected to be tense budget talks with the state legislature. However, the governor said Wednesday that he is confident he’ll still be able to work with lawmakers in Albany.
“I’m going to cooperate with the attorney general’s investigation and do the budget,” he said. “We did a budget last year in the spring in the heat of COVID, where it was the most intense period of my life, of this government’s life, of this state’s life, and we did both, and we’ll do both here.”
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