… Puerto Rico’s territory status is being slammed by a fellow Puerto Rican … approach for Puerto Rico to decide on … Puerto Rican descent, and Velázquez, who was born in Puerto Rico … Puerto Rican voters.
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Barbados has seen “significant, serious and positive interest” in its new “Barbados Welcome Stamp” program, which offers one-year visas for remote work on the island.
Barbados Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams said 1,079 applications had been processed so far for the program since it launched July 18.
Of those, 764 were individuals and 315 were family “bundles.”
“The five leading countries seeking entry under this program are the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Nigeria and India,” Abrahams said. “The USA, Great Britain and Canada account for 788 applications, which equates to approximately 73 per cent of total applications.”
So far, Barbados has denied about 60 applicants, “based on the fact that they were seeking employment in Barbados,” and, “or derogatory reports,” Abrahams said.
The visa is only available for those who are able to work remotely — not for those actually looking to work for Barbados-based companies.
So far, there are already 12 people living on the island who have already been approved for the program, which looks to help fill the void left by decreased tourist arrivals amid the pandemic.
For more, visit the Barbados Welcome Stamp.
— CJ
The post Barbados: “Significant” Interest in Welcome Stamp Program appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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The question of how and whether to reopen for tourism remains an existential question for Caribbean destinations — and it’s not an easy one to answer.
But those who do can look to Saint Lucia as an exemplar for tourism reopenings amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Almost three months after reopening its borders for international tourism, Saint Lucia continues to be a model in the fight against COVID-19.
The country is one of just eight countries globally to receive a Level 1 COVID-19 rating from the CDC, meaning over the last 28 days new cases either decreased or stabilized.
So far, Saint Lucia has reported just 26 cases and no deaths — or about 1.42 cases per 10,000 population.
Saint Lucia received its first commercial flight on July 9, with a host of strict protocols for incoming visitors, including a requirement to effectively quarantine in their hotels, and a stay in a maximum of two different hotels.
That’s along with the requirement of a negative COVID-19 test up to seven days before the date of travel; airport screening; a pre-arrival form.
“This is even more validation of our country’s success in the management of COVID-19,” said Saint Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet. “We have to keep following our protocols and ensuring that pre-testing is done before visitors arrive in Saint Lucia. This takes the support and cooperation of all the stakeholders in the travel industry.”
So far, Saint Lucia has received just under 5,900 travelers through its approved ports of entry, of whom 4,413 were visitors.
“It is an honor to see that the Strategic approach to responsible reopening the tourism sector, dedication and sacrifice of the Government, frontline workers and the cooperation of the public is topical in international jurisdictions. All measures by the government are geared are ensuring that livelihoods are restored while keeping local communities protected from the virus,” said Saint Lucia Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee.
The island has also begun to open up more sectors of its tourism industry, including diving and snorkeling.
And the island’s diverse hotel product, consisting mostly of low-density, smaller-scale luxury and boutique hotels, is another asset in the age of social distancing.
Saint Lucia now has 17 hotels currently COVID-19 certified and open for travelers, most recently the Fond Doux Plantation in Soufriere.
Saint Lucia remains in “Phase 1” of its reopening plan.
You can find Saint Lucia’s COVID protocols here.
For more, visit Saint Lucia.
— CJ
The post Why Saint Lucia Is a Model for Reopening Tourism in the Caribbean appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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… address the future of Puerto Rico has divided Puerto Rican members of Congress, reflecting … backlash from Puerto Rican lawmakers who have long supported statehood for Puerto Rico, mainly …
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UN News – There is likely only a slim possibility of people being reinfected with COVID-19, said WHO, following reports in Hong Kong that a man had contracted new coronavirus for a second time after an interval of more than four months.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris addressed concerns that the development could herald a new alert.
“The important – other important – thing to note is the numbers are very, very small,” she said. “So this is one documented case in over 23 million and we will probably see other documented cases. But it seems to be not a regular event we would have seen many more cases.”
Nonetheless, Dr. Harris& noted that the reinfection signalled on Monday was significant.
According to the University of Hong Kong scientists who announced the development, the virus strains that infected the man more than four months apart were different.
“The important thing here is that this is clear documentation,” the WHO spokesperson said. “So, we’ve had anecdotal reports every now and then from people who’ve tested negative, then tested positive. And it hasn’t been clear up until this case whether that was simply a problem of testing or whether people were getting infected a second time.”
Priorities for the UN health agency include understanding “what this means in terms of (people’s) immunity”, Dr. Harris continued.
“This is why we have got a lot of research groups actually tracking people, measuring antibodies, trying to understand how long the immune protection lasts – the natural immune protection – and that should be understood as it is not the same as the immune protection that a vaccine provides.”
To date, the WHO has recorded nearly 23.5 million cases of COVID-19 infection globally, with more than 809,000 deaths. The Americas have been worst-hit by region, with more than 12.5 million people infected, followed by Europe (3.995 million), South-East Asia (3.666 million), Eastern Mediterranean (1.840 million), Africa (1.007 million) and Western Pacific (460,991).
In a related development, WHO said that more than 170 countries are cooperating on a global initiative to produce fairly priced COVID-19 vaccines once they are licensed and approved.
The COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) initiative involves countries and vaccine manufacturers; it is led by WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
In a statement, WHO said that COVAX has the world’s “largest and most diverse COVID-19 vaccine portfolio” with nine candidate vaccines, nine more “under evaluation and conversations underway with other major producers”.
WHO described the project as only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both higher-income and lower-income countries.
But it insisted that in order to secure enough doses of vaccines to protect the most vulnerable populations – such as health workers and the elderly – funding was needed by 31 August deadline.
The post WHO: COVID-19 reinfection seems not to be a ‘regular event’ appeared first on Caribbean News Now!.
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