Post-Cabinet Statement: 64% OF RECENT POSITIVE CASES ARE RESIDENTS
The most recent TCI Post-Cabinet Statement has revealed that of all the recent COVID cases up to 15 September, 64% of these were residents. According to analysis, the country saw 93 cases of infection between 1 to 15 September, meaning that for this period, the first half of September, 60 of the 93 cases would have been residents, with the remaining 33 cases being visitors.
While we all want to see the end of the COVID pandemic, when compared to the rest of the region where cases are surging significantly, these numbers show that the TCI is managing the pandemic pretty well. If the trend holds, the TCI will end the month of September with just under 200 new infections for the month.
The latest dashboard figures for Wednesday 29 September show 8 new infections and one recovery. The total number of active cases stands at 53, with 48 cases on Providenciales and 5 on Grand Turk.
The Ministry of Health has surely taken its share of criticism over the pandemic but with more than 72% of residents inoculated against the virus, the 5th batch of vaccines now in country, a recovery rate of roughly 97%, and the TCI seeing record breaking tourism numbers this summer, ministry officials must be relieved and surely smiling.
The Honorable Premier Michael Missick, in his national address last Thursday, noted that his administration was committed to creating a much-improved healthcare system during their term. The pandemic will continue to test their ability to do just that.
Cabinet Update
During that same Cabinet meeting on 15 September, a number of approvals were given and other matters discussed.
These include:
The approval of amendments to the COVID-19 Arriving Passengers Health Clearance Regulations to include persons arriving in TCI aboard naval and coast guard vessels.
The approval of a Cemetery Policy to support the drafting of new Cemetery Legislation.
The approval of the establishment of a force to assist with the management of the CDB Consultancy for the Integrated Solid Waste Management.
Cabinet also approved the commencement of negotiations for a development agreement between Beach Enclave Stargazer Ltd. And TCIG.
The approval was given for the purchase of the land and buildings for the Headquarters of the TCI Regiment and a joint Law Enforcement Training Academy.
Cabinet approved the implementation of the National Teaching Standards Framework.
HE the Deputy Governor, Anya Williams, has been appointed as co-chair of the Information Technology Steering Committee.
And at the meeting the Cabinet discussed the country’s financial performance for the first quarter of the fiscal year and approved publication of the first quarter financial report. The first quarter financial report for statutory bodies was also discussed and approved for publication.
Beijing 2022 Olympics, Non-vaccinated athletes must serve 21-day quarantine
Athletes at the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics who are not fully vaccinated against coronavirus will have to serve a 21-day quarantine upon arrival in Beijing.
Participants at the Games who are fully vaccinated will enter a "closed-loop management system" when they arrive.
Athletes who have a justified medical exemption for the vaccine will have their cases considered.
The Winter Olympics run next February, the Paralympics in March.
Games organisers said that tickets will be sold "exclusively to spectators residing in China's mainland" who meet the coronavirus countermeasures.
Vaccinated athletes will be allowed to move only between Games-related venues for training, competitions and work.
All those involved in the Games within the closed-loop system will be tested daily.
Competitors at the summer Games in Tokyo this year were given daily tests and served a three-day quarantine on their arrival.
Those Games were largely held behind closed doors, with up to 10,000 Japanese fans permitted at venues.
The International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee said it welcomed the decision to sell tickets to those in China's mainland.
"It will facilitate the growth of winter sports in China by giving those spectators a first-hand Olympic and Paralympic experience of elite winter sports," a statement read.
"However, all parties feel for the athletes and the spectators from around the world, knowing that the restriction on spectators had to be put in place to ensure the safe holding of the Games this winter."
Source - BBC
Ecuador riot: Police storm jail where 116 died in gang war
Four hundred police officers have entered a prison in the Ecuadorean port city of Guayaquil where at least 116 inmates have been killed in a gang war. The brutal prison fight first broke out on Tuesday and officials had said on Wednesday that the jail was back under their control. But early on Thursday, neighbours said they had heard explosions and gunshots. Shortly afterwards, police said it was sending 400 officers back in to "maintain order".
Ecuador's police force posted video on its Twitter account of officers moving back into the Guayas prison complex, also known as the Litoral Penitentiary.
How did the deadly fight unfold?
The fight first broke out on Tuesday when inmates from one wing of the prison crawled through a hole to gain access to a different wing, where they attacked rival gang members.
At least six prisoners were decapitated, others were shot and some were killed by grenades.
Police managed to get six cooks, who were trapped in the wing where the fight happened, to safety and only two police officers were injured.
Ecuador's prison director, Bolívar Garzón, said that police had entered the prison at 14:00 local time (19:00GMT) on Tuesday and found 24 bodies. According to Mr Garzón, there was renewed shooting inside the prison overnight Tuesday into Wednesday and as police went through the prison wings one by one, they found scores more bodies, bringing the death toll to 116. Four hundred officers were again sent into Litoral Penitentiary on Thursday morning amid reports of renewed gunfire and explosions.
Who's fighting whom?
The fact that only two police officers have been injured but more than 100 inmates killed strongly suggests this is a war among inmates rather than an attempt at a prison uprising.
Local media are reporting that the brutal killings could have been ordered from outside the prison mirroring a power struggle between Mexican cartels currently under way in Ecuador.
The Litoral Penitentiary holds inmates from Los Choneros, an Ecuadorean gang which is thought to have links with Mexico's powerful Sinaloa drugs cartel.
But another Mexican criminal group, the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), is also trying to forge alliances with Ecuadorean gangs to seize control of drug smuggling routes leading from Ecuador to Central America from its Sinaloa rivals.
The decapitations and the brutal nature of the violence seen inside the Litoral prison are hallmarks of the Mexican cartels, which often kill their rivals in the most gruesome ways to spread further terror.
Source - BBC
UN chief to open UNCTAD 15th Session in Barbados
The Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean said on Wednesday that United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will open the 15th Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD15) in Bridgetown, Barbados on October 4.
The Office said the conference, hosted by the Government of Barbados, will be held in a hybrid format with events in Barbados, Geneva and across the world until October 7 under the theme “From inequality and vulnerability to prosperity for all”.
“The UN Secretary-General’s opening of UNCTAD’s 15th quadrennial session signals the great importance that the United Nations places on addressing the urgent trade and development needs of developing countries as they work to recover from the COVID-19 crisis,” said UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan.
She said UNCTAD15’s opening ceremony will feature welcome addresses by her, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados, among others.
The Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator said Guterres will deliver a keynote address on the urgent work required to accelerate global economic recovery and help all countries – especially developing countries – make progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Heads of state and government, senior UN officials, leaders of intergovernmental organizations, top trade experts, prominent development principals and thinkers from around the world will share their vision of the solutions required, including the role of trade, in forging a more inclusive and sustainable way forward, the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator.
In UNCTAD15’s high-level segment, it said world leaders will analyze global vulnerabilities and inequalities and how to build a more prosperous trade and development path.
It will also comprise ministerial round-table discussions on scaling up financing for development, reshaping global and regional value chains, harnessing frontier technologies for shared prosperity and supporting productive transformation for greater resilience in a post-pandemic world.
“With economies all over the world ravaged by COVID-19, the landmark event will offer UNCTAD’s 195 member States an opportunity to devise new ways to ensure trade delivers for all and can address the massive unmet trade, finance, investment and technology needs of developing countries,” the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator said.
It said the quadrennial UN event is the highest decision-making body of UNCTAD.
“It sets priorities for the next four years and formulates global policy recommendations on trade and development,” the Office said.
Source - CMC
Jay-Z fighting to release man from 20-year jail sentence over weed
According to legal documents obtained by The New York Post, the rapper's legal team has attempted not once, but twice, to get Valon Vailes released from prison. Vailes, 55, is currently serving a 20-year sentence in North Carolina with an additional 10-year supervised release for marijuana-related charges.
The newspaper reports that attorney Alex Spiro filed a motion on Wednesday asking a North Carolina judge for the "compassionate release" of Vailes after the first request was denied due to his COVID-19 vaccination status.
Spiro argued, "Mr. Vailes’ motion for compassionate release does not mention COVID-19 and does not rely on any COVID-19-related argument as a basis for arguing in favor of a reduced sentence."
Vailes was found guilt by a jury in December 2007 for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than a one ton of marijuana from 2003 to 2007. He first gained the attention of Jay-Z's legal team after penning a letter to the rapper, who owns the cannibis company Monogram.
In the letter, a copy of which the New York Post obtained, Vailes wrote, "This correspondence is a plea to ask for your help with the intent to campaign for my clemency...My family needs me home."
Vailes also mentions that he has followed the "Empire State of Mind" rapper's career and admires his advocacy for the "underprivileged and voiceless."
Spiro is asking that the judge release Vailes on a sentence of time served.
“It is unjust to allow Mr. Vailes to remain in prison when, if sentenced under the current law, and with his good behavior credits, he would have already been released," Spiro concluded.
Source - ABC
Amazon's algorithms taken to task in landmark bill
The methods Amazon and other employers use to monitor, reward and discipline warehouse workers are being shaken up in California.
State governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill prohibiting the workers from being fired for failing to meet a quota that does not allow for rest breaks.
Amazon workers have complained of having to work gruelling hours, with harsh penalties for being "off task".
The online retailer has not commented on the new law.
Bathroom facilities
The bill, the first of its kind, comes into force in January 2022.
Companies will have to detail the number of tasks they expect warehouse workers to complete within a certain timeframe and any penalties for failing to do so."An employee shall not be required to meet a quota that prevents compliance with meal or rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, or occupational health and safety laws," the bill says.
Its pay and benefits are considered generous for the industry.
Amazon has about 150,000 employees in California.
'Arduous workloads'
But some complain conditions are not and arduous workloads create mental and physical problems.
One of its most controversial policies is time off task (TOT).
Amazon's algorithms calculate which hours of a shift are off task, based on the number of items scanned, with penalties for those who underperform. Previously, the system had sent an alert if workers were off task for half an hour.
But in June, Amazon tweaked its policy to average scanned items over a longer period.
At the time of the change, worldwide operations vice-president Dave Clark blogged the tool "could be easily misunderstood" but was primarily to "understand whether there are issues with the tools that people use to be productive" and only secondarily to identify underperforming employees.
One of the biggest criticisms of Amazon is its use of technology, including a large number of robots, dehumanises workers.
It uses an array of technology to keep an eye on workers, including cameras in delivery vans and an app that monitors driving.
'Union-busting tactics'
In April, workers in Bessemer, Alabama, voted for the first time on whether they wanted to be represented by the National Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
The vote went against the union but amid allegations Amazon had used union-busting tactics, including:
altering a traffic-light system outside the warehouse to give union officials less time to leaflet workers
bombarding workers with texts, posters and signs encouraging them to vote no
The National Labour Relations Board found enough evidence Amazon had interfered with the process to warrant a second vote, yet to be held.
RWDSU president Stuart Applebaum welcomed the new California legislation but said a union contract "is better".
Transparency about what warehouses required of its workers was needed, he said, but "many other issues" had to be addressed.
In June, the US Teamsters Union announced it was also aiming to recruit Amazon workers.
Source - BBC
YouTube to remove all anti-vaccine misinformation
YouTube has said it will remove content that spreads misinformation about all approved vaccines, expanding a ban on false claims about Covid-19 jabs.
Videos that say approved vaccines are dangerous and cause autism, cancer or infertility are among those that will be taken down, the company said.
The policy includes the termination of accounts of anti-vaccine influencers.
Tech giants have been criticised for not doing more to counter false health information on their sites.
In July, US President Joe Biden said social media platforms were largely responsible for people's scepticism in getting vaccinated by spreading misinformation, and appealed for them to address the issue.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, said 130,000 videos were removed from its platform since last year, when it implemented a ban on content spreading misinformation about Covid vaccines.
In a blog post, the company said it had seen false claims about Covid jabs "spill over into misinformation about vaccines in general". The new policy covers long-approved vaccines, such as those against measles or hepatitis B.
"We're expanding our medical misinformation policies on YouTube with new guidelines on currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and the WHO," the post said, referring to the World Health Organization.
Personal testimonies relating to vaccines, content about vaccine policies, new vaccine trials, and historical videos about vaccine successes or failures will be allowed to remain on the site, the company said.
The move follows a similar ban introduced by Facebook in February, targeting false claims that vaccines are not effective or cause autism, among others. But since then the company has faced challenges in enforcing it.
In March, Twitter announced that users who repeatedly shared misinformation about vaccines would be banned from the platform.
Source - BBC
House of Assembly
Reminder the House of Assembly will meet at 10am on the 30/09/2021. Coverage of that meeting can be heard right here on Radio Turks & Caicos.
The Turks & Caicos Islands Limitation of Actions Bill 2021 is up for its second and third reading. A number of amendments have been made to several pieces of legislation, including the National Insurance regulations, Public and Environmental Health COVID-19 regulations, Customs legislation, and legislation governing the Ports Authority and Airports Authority.
UK Petrol supply shortage: Army will be delivering fuel in days
Soldiers will be delivering fuel in the next couple of days in a bid to ease petrol supply issues, the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng has said.
Kwasi Kwarteng admitted that the past few days - which have seen long queues outside petrol stations and some pumps running dry - haave been "difficult".
However, he has denied that there was a crisis in UK fuel supplies and said the situation was "stabilising".
Some 150 military drivers are ready to drive the fuel tankers.
Another 150 Army personnel are ready to support them.
The government had put the Army on standby in case the fuel situation worsened, but on Wednesday morning Mr Kwarteng revealed that ministers had decided to deploy troops to drive tankers "in the next couple of days".
He also revealed that a number of the government's 80 reserve fuel tankers will take to the road this afternoon - with civilians driving the trucks from their depots in Cambridgeshire and West Yorkshire.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy acknowledged this would not make a huge difference but said it was a positive development.
On Tuesday, speaking for the first time since issues began, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also sought to reassure drivers about supplies, saying that people should be "confident" to go about their business.
He said he was not seeking to prioritise essential workers at pumps because things were "stabilising". Sir Keir Starmer used his first in-person conference speech as Labour leader on Wednesday to criticise the government's handling of fuel supply issues.
Referring to the government's flagship "levelling up" policy to lower regional inequalities, he said: "Level up, you can't even fill up."
He accused the government of ignoring the issues, blaming others and delivering "half-baked" solutions with "no plan in place". Mr Starmer urged the PM to "either get a grip or get out of the way and let us step up to clear up this mess".
James Spencer, managing director at fuel supplier Portland Fuel, said the UK was over the worst of the situation and sending in the Army would "generate more panic".
"Under normal circumstances supply can easily meet demand," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He added that now many people had filled up their tanks, there might be a "dip in demand".
Fuel supplies are plentiful at refineries but a shortage of tanker drivers caused problems with deliveries to a small number of filling stations last week.
Reports of pumps running dry at some garages then subsequently led to a surge in demand.
The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said there were "encouraging signs" the pressure was starting to ease at the pumps, with forecourts taking further fuel deliveries.
The PRA, which represents nearly 5,500 of the UK's 8,000 stations, said 27% of sites had run out of fuel on Wednesday - compared with two-thirds being without on Sunday.
Brian Madderson, PRA chairman, told BBC News that while there were "less queues [and] panic buying" there was still "unusually heavy demand". He said "one or two" petrol station groups were reporting fewer dry sites than on Tuesday.
It would take more than "a day or a few days" to fully replenish stocks at all UK forecourts, he said, but there was still "plenty to go round".
Sainsbury's, which has 315 filling stations, said it was still "experiencing high demand for fuel" and that "all our sites continue to receive fuel".
A hypothetical analysis by BBC Two's Newsnight estimated that it would take about eight days for every vehicle in the UK to fill up under current higher levels of demand.
But the Times reported industry sources as saying disruption could "continue for weeks" because of the time it will take to restock petrol stations.
And Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Driver Association, said that the situation was "not getting better", with 25% to 30% of his members unable to work on Tuesday because they could not get fuel.
He called for an essential users list to be brought in to "take the sting out of this crisis".
Meanwhile, car use in Britain this week fell to its lowest level for a working Monday since 12 July, suggesting some drivers have reduced the amount they are driving due to fuel supply issues.
The figures from the Department for Transport showed car traffic was at 91% of pre-pandemic levels on Monday, compared with 97% a week earlier.
Source - BBC
United Airlines to fire staff who refuse vaccine
Nearly 600 United Airlines employees face being fired after failing to comply with the firm's Covid-19 vaccination policy.
The vast majority of its 67,000 US staff have supplied proof of vaccination, which was required by Monday.
"This was an incredibly difficult decision," its bosses said in a memo to employees.
The Chicago-based airline set out its Covid requirements for staff in August.
Its US employees had to upload proof of vaccination, or the first of two jabs, by the deadline on Monday.
The 593 workers who have refused a coronavirus vaccine and have not applied for an exemption on religious or medical grounds now face losing their jobs.
United bets on travel boom with big plane order
US lifts Covid travel ban on UK and EU citizens
"Our rationale for requiring the vaccine for all United's US-based employees was simple - to keep our people safe - and the truth is this: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated, and vaccine requirements work," its chief executive Scott Kirby and president Brett Hart said on Tuesday.
"This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority," they said.
Some of those employees could be kept on if they have been jabbed and have simply failed to submit proof of vaccination - or if they are vaccinated before formal meetings on the matter, the company said.
United said it would follow the rules outlined in union agreements on the dismissals. The process could take weeks or months.
A further 2,000 employees have requested an exemption to the policy.
It previously said it would put those who are exempt on temporary, unpaid leave from 2 October. But those plans were put on hold after a lawsuit was filed by six employees challenging the policy.
Fiona Cincotta, market analyst at City Index, told the BBC's Today programme that the "strict" policy was not likely to be introduced by UK airlines.
Like many companies in the aviation sector, United was severely hit by pandemic-related travel restrictions.
At the height of the crisis, it announced that it would need to furlough up to 36,000 staff.
It denied, however, that its vaccine policy would affect recruitment going forward, although vaccination will be a condition of hire for new staff.
On Tuesday it said that it had received more than 20,000 applications for about 2,000 flight attendant jobs.
Elsewhere in the US, few airlines have introduced vaccine mandates for its staff. Delta Airlines, for example, has announced a $200 (£148) monthly health insurance surcharge for those who are not jabbed.
Source - BBC