Tag Archives: caribbean

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Youths Spur Delta Variant in UK, Tourists & Quarantine

Busy restaurants in Old Compton Street, Soho over the bank holiday weekend.image copyrightGetty Images

BBC- The Covid-19 epidemic in England is growing, scientists tracking it say – with much of it being driven by younger people who are not yet vaccinated.

The analysis, from the React-1 study, looked at the period 20 May to 7 June.

However, tentative signs in the latest daily data suggest growth may be beginning to slow.

The rollout of vaccinations to younger people is key to reducing further spread, researchers from Imperial College London say.

Since last year, the team has been inviting a representative sample of the population to take Covid swab tests. The researachers found:

  • of the 108,911 people tested, 135 were positive – a rise from 0.1% to 0.15%
  • most cases were among five- to 12-year-olds and 18- to 24-year-olds
  • the reproduction (R) number, of people the average infected person would infect, was an estimated 1.44

The analysis also suggests a strengthening link between cases and hospital admissions, which is also reflected in the government’s daily coronavirus data.

The number of new infections is rising, with a seven-day average of 7,888 cases. The UK recorded 9,055 cases on Wednesday – the highest number since 9,985 were reported on 25 February.

The number of hospitalisations has also increased, with 1,177 patients in hospital as of Monday. However, daily deaths remain low, with a weekly average of nine deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Prof Paul Elliot, who directs the study, said: “We can take quite a lot of comfort from the fact that when we look in the details, it does appear that there is very, very good protection in the older ages, where there is virtually everyone double vaccinated.

“The government has clearly announced that they want to vaccinate all adults in the period between now and 19 July. That will make a very big difference and increase the total amount of population immunity.”

He told BBC News that the study had found the Delta variant first seen in India had overtaken the Alpha (Kent) variant as the UK’s dominant strain, and was responsible for an estimated 90% of infections.

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Daily data and positive signs?

Analysis box by Nick Triggle, health correspondent

The picture presented by React is one from 10 days ago. But if we look at the daily figures published by the government, there are some encouraging signs, albeit very tentative.

Last week, cases appeared to be doubling every 10 days, but this week that has slowed to something closer to 14 days.

It still means the epidemic is growing – but it is the first sign of a flattening of cases.

This, of course, could be a false dawn. The rise in infections has largely been driven by north-west England- the top 20 local-authority areas with the highest rates are all in that region.

Infections could easily take off in other areas, speeding up the growth of this wave.

But if this slowing of growth holds, it is very positive.

Government scientists had feared rapid growth right up to 19 July.

This would drive up hospital admissions, albeit, because of the vaccines, at a lower rate than in previous waves.

It is still early days, but data is now a little more encouraging than it was.

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson cited the Delta variant’s rapid spread when he announced a four-week delay to the lifting of remaining Covid restrictions in England.

The measures will remain in place until 19 July after MPs backed the government in a Commons vote by 461 to 60.

The government has accelerated its vaccination drive, setting a new target to vaccinate all over-18s with a first dose and two-thirds of adults with a second dose by the same date.

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Double Vax UK Tourists May Avoid Quarantine

 

British travellers who have had two Covid vaccines could be allowed quarantine-free entry into England under plans being considered by ministers, the Guardian understands.

As the government grapples with allowing more trips abroad while trying to prevent the importation of new variants, changes are being considered to the traffic light system under which places are graded according to their Covid case and jab rate, determining whether and how people coming from them must isolate.

Only a handful of countries feature on the isolation-free green list, with 50 territories on the red list – meaning arrivals must stay in a quarantine hotel for 14 days.

The amber list, which features the vast majority of countries and to which Portugal was recently added, has prompted much more confusion. Official government advice urges people not to travel to these places, but there are no laws in place to stop people arriving from them and quarantining at home for up to 10 days, or using the test-to-release system to leave the house from day five.

Currently, travellers leaving the UK are allowed to use the NHS app to prove their vaccine status and cut quarantine in some countries.

But in a move that will be seen as further encouraging people to get both jabs, the Guardian has been told that ministers are contemplating loosening travel restrictions for the amber list to let anyone who has had two Covid vaccines escape quarantine. Those who have not been fully inoculated would still face the same restrictions currently in force for amber list countries.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is said to be open to the idea, according to the Telegraph. It follows an announcement by the government that Covid vaccines will be mandatory for social care workers.

The suggestion that travellers could face more incentive to get jabbed also has prompted speculation about the future of the traffic light system, and, if it does remain in place, how likely it is that travellers will be allowed to visit red list countries – given the barriers to returning from them – for the rest of 2021.

Last week, the former prime minister Theresa May accused ministers of having implemented a chaotic system of international travel restrictions. She complained: “We are falling behind the rest of Europe in our decisions to open up … It’s incomprehensible that one of the most heavily vaccinated countries in the world is one that is most reluctant to give its citizens the freedoms those vaccinations should support.”

Chris Grayling, the Tory ex-former transport secretary, also said the government’s decisions would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and leave the aviation industry “decimated for the future”.

The former health minister Stephen Hammond accused the government of ignoring the data and making “illogical” choices about the green, amber and red lists.

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Taiwan reports 175 new local cases with 19 new deaths

Helen Davidson

Taiwan has reported 175 new local cases and 19 new deaths. The top three sources continue to be New Taipei (87), Taipei (34) and Miaoli (31). All the cases reported in Miaoli, where authorities have been responding to outbreaks among factory workers, were individuals who had already been quarantined as close contacts of earlier cases.

The central epidemic command centre said 1.13 million of Taiwan’s 23.5 million residents have been vaccinated. More than 170,000 are aged over 75, according to local reporters translating the press conference.

The number of cases related to household transmissions is declining, but there are a growing number of cases in aged care homes – something seen in overseas outbreaks throughout 2020 – as well as hospitals.

Taiwan is currently four weeks into level 3 restrictions, which limit gatherings, discourage travel, and have closed all entertainment, adult, sporting and public venues as well as restricted restaurants to takeaway only.

The CECC won’t be drawn on whether it will be extended again beyond the current scheduled end of 28 June, instead saying they’ll make adjustments as they observe the situation.

The current outbreak in Taiwan is slowly declining, but numbers remain in the hundreds and authorities do not conduct mass testing, instead focusing on contact tracing for targeted tests. Having gone through 2020 largely untouched by the pandemic and drawing praise for its successful response, this is Taiwan’s worst ever Covid-19 outbreak.

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Biden-Putin Meet: What Happened?…Not Much

By Niall Stanage

The Hill

 

The last time President Biden met Russian President Vladimir Putin, he says he told the Russian leader he didn’t believe he had a soul.

That exchange was just one of the reasons the meeting between the two men in Geneva on Wednesday was so highly anticipated.

The summit — the final engagement on Biden’s weeklong trip to Europe — came amid tensions around Ukraine, the treatment of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, recent cyberattacks and allegations of election meddling

Here are the five main takeaways.

A return to pragmatism

The White House was careful to downplay expectations for the summit, stressing there were no “deliverables” or major breakthroughs expected.

So it proved. Biden instead sought to frame the meeting as an exercise in worldly pragmatism.

In a news conference afterward, he stressed the importance of “strategic stability.”

By that, he seemed to mean that there should be a workable degree of predictability regarding what Washington or Moscow might do in various scenarios — and an awareness of the red lines for each nation.

On , cybersecurity he asserted that any attacks orchestrated by Russia would be met by a meaningful — if vaguely described — response from the United States.

Biden made clear he and Putin weren’t miraculously going to fall into lockstep. Rather, he held out the possibility that the Russian leader could burnish his country’s reputation over time by staying within international norms.

“This is not a ‘Kumbaya’ moment … but it’s clearly not in anybody’s interest — your country or mine — for us to be in a situation where we’re in a new cold war,” Biden added.

Such statements aren’t exactly exciting. But they show Biden trying to walk a fine line.

He knows his political and media opponents at home are eager to brand him as weak in his dealings with Putin, so some tonal toughness is required. At the same time, if Biden had contrived a dramatic blowup, it would have raised new questions about why the U.S. had issued the invite to the summit in the first place.

In the end, the event met modest expectations.

Putin, for his part, struck a similar tone.

“What’s the point of keeping score?” he said at his own press conference, which preceded Biden’s. “It makes no sense to try to scare one another.”

Capitol riot rears its head

The most contentious subject from the two leaders’ dueling news conferences was an unexpected one — the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Putin raised the issue in response to a question about human rights in Russia. It’s a hot topic in general, particularly amid criticism of the Kremlin’s treatment of Navalny.

Putin reacted in characteristic fashion, drawing attention to U.S. abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the continued existence of the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay.

But he then drew the insurrection into the same broad argument, saying mildly that “people came to the U.S. Capitol with political demands.” The law enforcement response, he suggested, had been too harsh.

This view — which replicates the talking points of the most fervent supporters of former President Trump — irked Biden when it was put to him at his news conference.

The president said any comparison of Jan. 6 with legitimate protest was “ridiculous.”

The Jan. 6 rioters, he added, were “literally criminals” who had broken through a security cordon to assail the Capitol.

Biden praised as ‘not Trump’

Biden had one big advantage going into Wednesday’s summit — the low bar set by his predecessor.

When Trump met Putin in Helsinki in 2018, the U.S. president was widely criticized for a craven performance. Trump infamously appeared to take Putin’s word over the testimony of U.S. intelligence agencies about whether Russia had meddled in the 2016 presidential election.

The late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) branded Trump’s behavior at that meeting “disgraceful.”

Biden has sought to reassure U.S. allies over the past week that “America is back” — a clear allusion to the disruption and frequent chaos of the Trump years.

Much of the commentary that initially followed Wednesday’s summit measured Biden’s performance against that of his predecessor.

For the most part, Biden earned positive reviews simply by staying within the standard parameters. In doing so, he offered a contrast to Trump’s seeming delight in trampling on every line.

Putin relishes occasion

Putin’s desire to flex Russian muscle on the world stage is well known.

The Russian president — a KGB agent at the time the Soviet Union crumbled — is sensitive to any diminution of his country’s importance.

Criticisms of Biden’s decision to propose the summit centered on the idea that the event was sure to elevate Putin.

The Russian president certainly seemed to relish the spotlight. His lengthy press conference was mostly relaxed and even, on occasion, jocular. While he complained about American double-standards on issues like human rights, he was at pains to point out that the atmosphere at his meeting with Biden had been constructive.

“There was no hostility, quite the contrary,” he said. On several occasions, he praised Biden’s experience.

Putin’s clear enjoyment of the event irked some observers. One critic, the former chess champion Garry Kasparov, complained on MSNBC that Putin had “got what he wanted” simply by virtue of the summit taking place.

Questions linger about details

The summit provided some positive mood music for Biden and Putin, but it is unclear whether it presages any real change.

An extension of the New START arms reduction treaty had already been agreed in advance of the summit. Putin said the two nations had agreed that their ambassadors, who had been recalled to their home countries this spring, would return to their posts soon.

Afterward, the White House issued a statement noting that the two nations “will embark together on an integrated bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue in the near future that will be deliberate and robust.”

The proposal is nebulous, and it could be undone at a moment’s notice by anything that raises frictions, such as new cyberattacks.

This, in turn, explains Biden’s positive but cautious tone.

Asked at his news conference whether he trusted Putin, the president pushed back against the terms of the question.

“This is not about trust. This is about self-interest and verification of self-interest,” he said. “Let’s see what happens.”

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Vendors Adjusting Smoothly At The Basseterre Public Market With Enhanced Safety Protocol

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, June 16, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Produce vendors who plied their trade on various streets throughout Basseterre in recent times are now adjusting smoothly to their new accommodations at the Basseterre Public Market which is now operating under enhanced COVID-19 safety measures and protocols.

This was confirmed today (June 16) when Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, supported by Permanent Secretary in the Minister of Agriculture Mr. Ron Collins and Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Tracey Challenger, visited the facility located at the Bay Road.

“I had the opportunity to interact with a large number of vendors, to hear their perspective and to explain the rationale for keeping them in the public market where they are safer and where their customers are safer in the context of the community spread that we’re having. The control measures where persons have to sanitize and have to wear their masks are all critical elements of the new environment in which we are operating,” Dr. Harris said.

As part of its measures to contain the spread of the virus, Prime Minister Harris announced in a national address on Friday, June 11 that no street vending will be allowed for 14 days in the first instance. The prime minister stated then that vending will only be allowed at the public market “with controlled spaces where strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols must be observed.”

Prime Minister Harris said the measure of having persons entering the public market recording their names is another important measure that will allow health officials in its contact tracing exercise in the event of a suspected case.

“If anyone who had been here comes down with the virus within a particular period of time, we are able to round up as many people and quarantine them where necessary, isolate them where necessary, so that you cut off the ability of the virus to spread because many persons would have it and are unaware of it and so they keep on spreading it onto others,” the prime minister added. 

A number of vendors expressed their appreciation to Prime Minister Harris for taking the time out to see first-hand how they are adjusting to their new settings and generally for doing all his Government is doing to keep citizens and residents as safe as possible during this time of a global pandemic.

Wednesday’s visit was the second such visit for the prime minister at the Basseterre Public Market since the introduction of the new regulations on Friday, June 11. Prime Minister Harris said he intends to return at a later date to give even more support to the vendors.

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What Is A State Of Emergency?

Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 16, 2021 (SKNIS): His Excellency Sir S.W. Tapley Seaton, GCMG, CVO, QC, JP, LL.D, Governor-General of St. Kitts and Nevis, has issued a proclamation dated June 15, 2021, declaring the State of Emergency. What is the State of Emergency?

A State of Emergency or Emergency Powers is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do in a democracy, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state during a natural disaster, civil unrest, armed conflict, medical pandemic or epidemic or other biosecurity risks. States of Emergency can also be used as a rationale or pretext for suspending rights and freedoms guaranteed under a country’s constitution or basic law, sometimes through martial law or revoking habeas corpus.

The State of Emergency in St. Kitts and Nevis comes about in the wake of a new wave of rising COVID-19 infections brought about by community spread that has seen to date 244 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 180 active cases, 64 recovered cases, and zero deaths. The government is engaged in a war against the COVID-19 pandemic that if not contained threatens the lives and livelihoods of its citizens thus the government has to act swiftly to save lives in this time of the global and deadly pandemic.

The State of Emergency (SoE) runs in the first instance from 6 pm Tuesday 15th June, 2021, until 11:59 pm on Tuesday 6th July, 2021.

The Government along with its National COVID-19 Task is asking all citizens and residents to comply with the non-pharmaceutical measures of mask-wearing, social distancing, and proper hand hygiene in order to curb the spread of the SARS CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. Additionally, all eligible persons for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are urged to avail themselves of the vaccine at the earliest possible time.

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State Of Emergency Declared In St. Kitts & Nevis

Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 15, 2021 (SKNIS): His Excellency Sir S.W. Tapley Seaton, GCMG, CVO, QC, JP, LL.D, Governor-General of St. Kitts and Nevis, has issued a proclamation dated June 15, 2021, declaring a State of Emergency.

The State of Emergency comes about in the wake of a new wave of rising COVID-19 infections brought about by community spread that has seen to date 244 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 180 active cases, 64 recovered cases, and zero deaths.

The Proclamation comes into effect from 6 pm Tuesday 15th June, 2021, until 11:59 pm on Tuesday 6th July, 2021.

Please see the below to SR&O No. 23 of 2021

STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS
No. 23 of 2021
Proclamation dated the 15th day of June 2021, made pursuant to section 19(1) of the Constitution and under section 3(1)(a) of the Emergency Powers Act

BY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER AND NEVIS A PROCLAMATION SIR SAMUEL WEYMOUTH TAPLEY SEATON GCMG, CVO, QC, JP, LLD Governor-General

[Published 15th June 2021, Extra-Ordinary Gazette No. 35 of 2021.]
WHEREAS by virtue of the provisions of section 19(1) of the Saint Christopher and Nevis 1983 Constitution Order, as set out in the Fourth Schedule to the West Indies Act, Cap. 1.01, the Governor-General may by proclamation, declare that a state ofemergency exists in Saint Christopher and Nevis for the purposes of Chapter II of theConstitution

AND WHEREAS section 19(2) of the Constitution provides that a proclamation made under subsection (1) shall not be effective unless it includes a declaration that the Governor-General is satisfied that a public emergency has arisen –
(a) because of the possibility that Her Majesty may shortly be at war;
(b) because of the occurrence of any accident or natural calamity; or
(c) because action has been taken by any person, or there is an imminent threat of action by any person, of such a nature and on so extensive a scale as to be likely to endanger the public safety or to deprive the community or any substantial portion of the community of supplies or services essential to life.

AND WHEREAS it is further provided by section 3(1)(a) of the Emergency Powers Act, Cap. 19.02, that where it appears to the Governor-General that a public emergency has arisen as a result of the imminence of a state of war between Her Majesty and any Foreign State or as a result of the occurrence of any earthquake, hurricane, flood, fire, outbreak of pestilence, outbreak of infectious disease or any other calamity, he or she may declare that a state of emergency exists and that the declaration is reasonably justifiable in the interests of defence, public safety, public order or public health

AND WHEREAS in light of the outbreak and community spread in Saint Christopher and Nevis of the incursion of the COVID-19 virus, an infectious disease on the scale of a global pandemic

ST KITTS W I NOW THEREFORE, I, Sir Samuel Weymouth Tapley Seaton, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, Queen’s Counsel, Justice of the Peace, Doctor of Laws, Governor-General of the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis DO HEREBY declare that a State of Emergency for Saint Christopher and Nevis exists and is reasonably justifiable in the interest of public health on the ground of the threat of a natural calamity as a result of the outbreak and community spread of the COVID-19 virus, an infectious disease which has taken effect on a pandemic scale and now threatens the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis

This Proclamation shall be in effect from 6 p.m. on Tuesday 15th June, 2021 until
11:59 p.m. on Tuesday 6th July, 2021 AND all our officers and loving subjects in Saint Christopher and Nevis and all others whom it may concern are hereby required to take due notice hereof and to give their ready obedience accordingly.

GIVEN under my hand and the Public Seal of Saint Christopher and Nevis at Government House, Basseterre in the Island of Saint Christopher in the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis this 15th day of June, 2021, and in the seventieth year of Her Majesty’s reign.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

 

 

 

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Four CARICOM Members Record COVID Deaths in 24 Hrs.

Four Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries registered deaths from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic over the past 24 hours, while Jamaica going over the 1,000 fatality mark.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) in Guyana said seven more persons who tested positive for the novel coronavirus died, taking the total number of deaths in Guyana from the pandemic to 437 since March last year when the first case was diagnosed.

It said that the patients were admitted with COVID-19 like symptoms but died while receiving care at medical institutions. The seven people who died ranged in ages from 51 to 84 years old and included five men.

Guyana also recorded 84 new cases of COVID-19 taking the total positive cases recorded to date to 18,530. There are now 22 persons in ICU, 112 in institutional isolation, 1378 in home isolation, and two in institutional quarantine. The number of recoveries stands at 16401.

Trinidad and Tobago health authorities reported nine deaths and 327 new positive cases over the period June 10 to 14 pushing the death toll to 686 and 29,309 positive cases. The authorities said that there are 8,965 active cases and 459 patients in hospitals across the country.

There are also 242 people in state sanctioned quarantine facilities and 8,041 in home isolation.

According to the ministry, there were four men and five females including one without co-morbidities who died as a result of contracting the virus.

The ministry said 19, 667 people have recovered from the virus.

In Jamaica, the Ministry of Health and Wellness reported 23 additional COVID-19 cases and one death over the past 24 hours.

The number of confirmed cases since the outbreak on the island now stands at 49,379, while the death of a 37-year-old man has pushed total fatalities to 1,012. Another death was also reported as coincidental.

The new cases comprise 14 females and nine males with ages ranging from 14 to 87 years. The authorities said 187 COVID patients recovered on Monday, bringing total recoveries to 27, 919. Active cases are now 20,071, of which 131 are hospitalised, 28 moderately ill and nine in critical condition.

The number of people who died from COVID-19 in Suriname this month has risen to 110, after eight people lost the fight against the virus. Overall, the death toll stands at 412.

The Ministry of Health said that 227 people had tested positive from a batch of 525 citizens and that a total of 18,599 people have now tested positive. The number of people recovered from the disease is 14,172, including 245 in the past 24 hours.

There are currently 255 civilians in the hospitals and 33 patients in the intensive care unit. An estimated 2,108 have been placed in isolation.

In Barbados, one male was diagnosed as COVID-19 positive from among the 456 tests conducted by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory on Monday. There are 17 people in isolation.

Since March 2020, there have been 4,038 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (1,952 females and 2,086 males), and 47 people have died from the virus.

A total of 177,318 tests have been carried out by the public health laboratory.

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US Virgin Islands Governor Implores Florida To Permit Vaccinated Cruises

One day after Royal Caribbean announced that two guests on the first cruise ship to sail from a U.S. port since the pandemic shutdown have tested positive for COVID-19, the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands implored Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis to allow cruise lines to mandate vaccinations.

Albert Bryan Jr., governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, said the infection of vaccinated passengers is precisely the reason cruise lines need the freedom to require vaccinations. While vaccines do not eliminate risks, he said, not having them could be catastrophic, including to the people in the islands that cruise passengers visit.

“It emphasizes the need for us to have these protocols,” Bryan said. “Our ports, which are some of the most popular ports of call for cruises in the Caribbean, are in the direct line of fire, alongside the other port of call destinations.

Two passengers on Celebrity cruise ship have tested positive

The infected passengers on the Celebrity Millennium were asymptomatic and immediately quarantined upon testing positive, the cruise line reported. All crew and passengers on the ship were reported to have been vaccinated before boarding, the cruise line said.

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World View: Biden-Putin Meet, Disappearing Guns Mystery, Kim Looking Thinner, More

June 16, 2021

Alternate text
it’s a moment of high-stakes diplomacy as U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet at a lakeside mansion in Geneva for their first face-to-face as leaders. AP’s Washington and Moscow correspondents analyze what each side wants from the summit as U.S.-Russia relations have hit a low point.

Also this morning:

– AP investigation shows U.S. Army hid or downplayed disappearance of firearms

– Israel hits militant sites in Gaza in first airstrikes since cease-fire ended

– Greenpeace apologizes for Euro 2020 parachute stunt that injured several spectators

KARL RITTER

Southern Europe News Director

The Associated Press

Rome

The Rundown

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GENEVA (AP) — President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin sit down Wednesday for their highly anticipated summit in the Swiss city of Geneva, a moment of high-stakes diplomacy at a time when both leaders agree that U.S.-Russian relations are at…Read More

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GENEVA (AP) — An American president won’t side with Moscow over his own intelligence agencies. There will be no talk of a “reset” in Russian relations. And it is highly doubtful that anyone will gaze into Vladimir Putin’s eyes and discuss his soul….Read More

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The U.S. Army has hidden or downplayed the extent to which its firearms disappear, significantly understating losses and thefts even as some weapons are used in street crimes. The Army’s pattern of secrecy and suppression dates back nearly a decade…Read More

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has long been a source of morbid fascination in rival South Korea, which sits in the shadow of Kim’s 1.2-million-strong army and his growing arsenal of nuclear-armed missiles. …Read More

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JIUQUAN, China (AP) — China is set to send the first three crew members to its new space station Thursday morning, China’s space agency said. Two of the astronauts flew in previous missions while the third is going to space for the first time, Chin…Read More

OTHER TOP STORIES

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli aircraft carried out a series of airstrikes at militant sites in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday, the first such raids since a shaky cease-fire e…Read More

Ashley Pearce’s daughter was set to start kindergarten last year in Maryland’s Montgomery County school system. But when it became clear that the year would begin online…Read More

NEW DELHI (AP) — The standoff between the Indian government and Twitter escalated Wednesday when the country’s technology minister accused the social media giant of deli…Read More

MUNICH (AP) — Greenpeace has apologized and Munich police are investigating after a protestor parachuted into the stadium and injured two people before Germany’s game ag…Read More

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Haiti: Gang Violence Pushing People from Their Homes

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – Escalating gang violence has pushed nearly 8,500 women and children from their homes in Haiti´s capital in the past two weeks, according to a UNICEF report.

Officials say the gangs’ fight over territory in Port-au-Prince has forced hundreds of families to abandon burned or ransacked homes in impoverished communities, with many of them staying in gymnasiums and other temporary shelters that are running out of water, food and items like blankets and clothes.

Bruno Maes, Haiti´s representative for the U.N.´s children agency that issued the report late Monday, compared the effect to guerrilla warfare, “with thousands of children and women caught in the crossfire.”

Nearly 14,000 people in Port-au-Prince have been displaced by violence in the past nine months, according to the U.N. office overseeing humanitarian coordination. Families with young children have been sleeping on concrete floors of a gymnasium in the Carrefour neighborhood, with only a sheet serving as a bed and their scant belongings stuffed into bags nearby.

Many expect the violence to increase as Haiti prepares for general elections scheduled for September and November: They accuse gangs of trying to boost support for certain candidates and of targeting neighborhoods that organize protests against President Jovenel Moïse.

Pierre Espérance, executive director of the Haitian National Human Rights Defense Network, said gangs control about 60% of the country´s territory and that 12 massacres have been reported since 2018 in disadvantaged communities. However, he said he is especially worried about the most recent upswing in violence.

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In this handout released Tuesday, June 15, 2021 by UNHaiti, internally displaced people sit inside a shelter at the Center Sportif of Carrefour in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. A UNICEF report says that escalating gang violence has displaced thousands of women and children in the capital in the first two weeks of June. (Boulet-Groulx/UNHaiti via AP)

“It´s the worst we´ve seen,” he said. “Gangs have so much power, and they are tolerated. … Each day that passes with Jovenel in power, the situation is going to deteriorate.”

A spokesman for Moïse could not be immediately reached for comment.

Last week, Léon Charles, general director of Haiti´s National Police, said gangs are fighting over territory and called on people to rise up against them: “The moment has arrived for the collaboration of all sectors.”

In addition to infiltrating rival shantytowns, gangs have targeted police stations in recent weeks, killing several officers. They also have raided businesses and fired on a car dealership on Monday as customers and employees fled. Hours later, Haiti´s National Police said they had the situation under control and were collaborating with citizens “to thwart the attempts of these armed gangs wanting at all costs to create a climate of terror in the country.”

The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti said it was deeply concerned about the upsurge in gang violence and called for it to end so humanitarian aid could reach those in need.

Businesses and schools have closed and public transportation ceased in communities most affected by the violence, including Martissant and parts of Delmas, with few entering or crossing the area for fear of being killed.

Doctors Without Borders said its emergency center in Martissant received more than 40 patients with gunshot wounds from June 2-4 alone, and that its employees have had to take cover from stray bullets.

“We are witnessing an extremely worrying deterioration in the security situation,” the mission said. “At a time when we should be scaling up because of COVID-19 and other needs, we are struggling to keep our existing facilities open due to insecurity.”

The mission and other health experts say they worry people aren´t seeking medical help for fear of being injured or killed if they leave their homes as Haiti struggles with a spike in COVID-19 cases while still awaiting its first shipment of vaccines.

Meanwhile, Espérance, the human rights activist, said he doesn´t foresee a quick solution: “It will be absolutely impossible to hold elections in Haiti in 2021.”

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In this handout released Tuesday, June 15, 2021 by UNHaiti, internally displaced people gather inside a shelter at the Center Sportif of Carrefour in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. A UNICEF report says that escalating gang violence has displaced thousands of women and children in the capital in the first two weeks of June. (Boulet-Groulx/UNHaiti via AP)

In this handout released Tuesday, June 15, 2021 by UNHaiti, internally displaced people sit inside a shelter at the Center Sportif of Carrefour in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. A UNICEF report says that escalating gang violence has displaced thousands of women and children in the capital in the first two weeks of June. (Boulet-Groulx/UNHaiti via AP)

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Cuba with Record No. of Virus Cases

At the close of this Monday, June 14, Cuba reported 1,537 new cases of COVID-19, for a cumulative total of 160,594 since March 2020, Dr. Francisco Durán Garcías, national director of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap), said in his daily television appearance on Tuesday.

Cuba woke up this Tuesday with 30,834 patients admitted: 5,718 suspected, 17,698 under surveillance and 7,418 confirmed (active cases), “70 more than the previous day, which had already been a high figure.”

Of the 7,418 active cases, 7,257 are clinically stable. A total of 161 confirmed patients are being treated in intensive care: 62 are critical and 99 severe.

During this Monday, 19,862 PCR samples were processed in the country’s molecular biology laboratories, of which 1,537 were positive, 188 more than the previous day and the highest number of cases diagnosed in one day. “It is an expression of the high contagiousness that the virus is having,” commented Durán.

Since March 2020, 4,657,880 samples have been processed, with 160,594 (3.45%) positive.

Of the 1,537 cases confirmed this Monday:

-1,489 are autochthonous, the highest number on record (183 more than on Sunday), and 48 imported.

-1,432 were contacts of confirmed cases.

-57 are still working to determine the source of infection.

-35.3% (543) of the patients were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis, a proportion “somewhat lower than what has usually been recorded, unquestionably, it also reflects the greater virulence of the virus,” said the specialist. There are 77,600 (48.3% of the total number of cases) since the beginning of the pandemic in the country.

“1,537 new cases of COVID19 confirmed, for a cumulative 160 594. 7,418 active cases. 7,257 stable clinical course. 62 patients in critical condition. 99 patients in serious condition. 1,106 deaths. 152,014 patients recovered. 2 evacuated.”

263 cases are under 20 years of age, including 238 in pediatric ages (under 18). Already 21,505 pediatric-aged patients have been diagnosed with COVID-19 during the course of the pandemic in Cuba. Currently, there are 1,090 pediatric patients among the confirmed patients admitted, the highest number to date; of these, 75 are under one year of age.

On Monday, of the cases diagnosed in pediatric ages, 14 were children under one year of age, including nine children under six months of age, and among them a 21-day-old newborn. Of those 14 cases, 12 are contacts of confirmed cases, with an average of nine contacts reported.

In the past 15 days (May 31-June 14, 2021), an average of 183 cases per day have been reported in pediatric ages.

To date, Cuba has accumulated 1,106 deaths due to COVID-19 (eight this Monday), and 152,014 patients (94.7%) have recovered from the disease, including the 1,159 discharged on Monday.

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