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VOLUME:117 No.79, MARCH 16TH, 2020

HO US E & 16 THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

BUSINESS: CRISIS WILL DEVASTATE THE ECONOMY

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‘We are all in this together’ PM unveils action plan to protect us from COVID-19

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced the closure of schools starting today until April 14 and expanding travel restrictions for foreigners in light of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Minnis also cautioned Bahamians against nonessential travel overseas.

His comments came during a sombre national address last night that happened hours after health officials revealed a 61-year-old New

Providence woman tested positive for COVID-19, the first confirmed case in the country.

Dr Minnis said foreign nationals who have travelled in the last 20 days from the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe will be prevented from entering this country, joining foreign nationals from Italy, South Korea, Iran and China whose travel here had been restricted earlier. Returning residents from restricted countries, he said, will be quarantined or placed in self-isolation upon arrival.

SEE PAGE THREE

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis speaking last night, alongside acting Minister of Health Jeffrey Lloyd

• Atlantis • Woman, • All schools • Visitors 61, first to closed until from Europe, falls to 50% UK banned occupancy catch virus April 14 POLICE SHOOT DEAD 75-YEAR-OLD MAN

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

POLICE killed a man in his 70s after he allegedly engaged them in a shoot-out at the Fox Hill Police Station Friday morning.

Chief Superintendent of Police Solomon Cash said shortly before 7am, the man visited the station to fulfil his bail requirements when he suddenly pointed a weapon in

the direction of two officers, causing the officers to flee the station and seek refuge.

The shoot-out began in the station’s yard, he said.

CSP Cash said that officers asked the deceased for his identification. “When they did that, the officers went to withdraw to examine the ID. When the officers looked up at the suspect again, the suspect was at the time pointing a handgun in the officers’ face. The officers, being fearful, ran from the

police station, accompanied by a female officer who was along with them. The officers ran from the station and they hid behind the station when they noticed the same suspect appeared to be searching for them.

The officers produced their weapons and discharged at the male suspect who also fired on the officers.

“The male suspect then ran west along Ferguson Street. The officers

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE 11

INSIGHT TIME TO THINK OF OTHERS, NOT JUST OURSELVES

SEE PAGE SEVEN

PAGE 2, Monday, March 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

It will be tough but don’t panic, argues Sumner

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A FORMER Chamber of Commerce CEO said while the novel coronavirus pandemic will result in some “economic fall out” for the country, the impact of the potentially deadly disease on local commerce is nothing to panic over.

Edison Sumner, former chief executive officer of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce Employers Confederation (BCCEC), told The Tribune he believes the global pandemic will have a drastic impact on the country’s three largest sectors.

Still, he insisted there were things that could be done to “mitigate against” the potential economic downfall, which he predicted would only last for a “short season” .

“There’s going to be less activity now happening in the economy and unfortunately those who rely on that level of interaction are going to be the most impacted,” he said.

“I’m also afraid that there may end up being an impact directly on our tourism sector, as well as on our financial services sector and our retail sector because once this information gets out that The Bahamas has now confirmed its first (COVID-19) case, people are now going to be more averse to travelling.”

Mr Sumner predicted the country will see some cancellations in arrivals from both the cruise ship and airline industries.

He added there would also be a decrease in the number of people travelling to the country to conduct business, since a number of international companies have instructed their executives to “cancel and discontinue all international travel.”

“The challenge is going to be that if there is going to be no or limited movement of voyages – whether it’s in the cruise industry, or whether it’s in cargo vessels who bring goods and products into the country – then those who rely on that kind of service to put product into the market will also

likely be impacted by this,” he explained.

“And we can’t say that we will rely on Amazon and those other airlifts because I think that there may be limited movements in that area as well.”

Still, Mr Sumner said he did not believe that the world’s economic activity would “cease completely” because of the fear surrounding the spread of the virus.

“You cannot bring the entire economy of the world to a screeching halt because of this,” he said.

“There has to remain activities in all of the economies around the world in order for the world to keep moving economically.

“Now, it is not to incite any kind of fear or anxiety in the workplace. There are things I believe that can be done to mitigate against this and I think it’s only going to last for a short season whether it’s a few weeks or a couple of months.

“But we need to brace ourselves and prepare to exercise whatever business continuity plans we would have had in place as corporate Bahamas.”

Mr Sumner said businesses that don’t have continuity plans should seek advice and counsel quickly to have one created and implemented in their respective workplaces.

He also said the country needs to ensure that it is able to “generate sufficient activities in the economy so that the currency continues to flow” and does not come to a “stand still.”

“For international trades, I believe that the Central Bank of the Bahamas has

EDISON SUMNER

sufficient reserves on hand so that they are not going to be concerned about the inability to facilitate international commerce and transactions,” he furthered.

“I believe they probably have 12 weeks or more of foreign currency reserves on hand so I don’t think that they are going to be concerned of anything happening here as it relates to the reserves that they have.

“But certainly, I think that there is going to be some economic fall out, but it’s not a case where we ought to panic over it. This just requires some proper planning, preparation, activating some of our disaster preparedness plans and activating our business continuity plans.”

Mr Sumner said the coronavirus pandemic calls for “health, tourism, logistic and business professionals” to work together to determine what is needed to “help mitigate any spread of this virus and its impact on the local economy.”

“The thing is, which could be a blessing as well as a curse, is that we operate in several islands in the country. It’s important to understand this virus was confirmed in New Providence and the rest of the country has not had any confirmation of anyone else who has contracted this virus.

“So, it’s important for people to understand that we’re operating several economies in this country and we cannot keep focusing on one particular island when something happens as we did with the case coming out of Dorian with Grand Bahama and Abaco, where the world had the impression that the entire country had shut down.”

Mr Sumner said it was

crucial for The Bahamas to make visitors understand that the country is operating multiple economies and that the nation was still “vibrant.”

“We expect we’re going to recover quickly,” he

assured. “We know that we’re still dealing with challenges from Dorian and that certainly has put our resources to the test and this is going to do the same.

“But I believe that we are resourceful and we

are resilient. We ought not panic, we don’t want to sell fear. This is something that is going to last for a short season, but we will get through it and I believe the Bahamas is going to be even stronger for it.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 16, 2020, PAGE 3

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS from page one He said: “Non-essential travel by Bahamian nationals and residents and other countries is highly discouraged. Let me repeat this: If you do not need to travel overseas at this time, I highly urge you to remain at home.”

Dr Minnis said permits for public open spaces have been suspended and all national sporting events will be postponed until further notice. Experts recommend social distancing, as well as frequent hand washing, to deter the spread of the virus.

He said the coronavirus, which has spurred a global crisis, will have “tremendous and widespread economic impact” on the country.

Noting tourism accounts for about 50 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and just under 50 percent of direct employment, he said: “No sector is more at risk than travel.

The crisis will have tremendous and widespread economic impact.”

He said he will consult major businesses for their input on a national response to the crisis this week, adding Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest will address the economic and fiscal aspects of the crisis in the House of Assembly on Wednesday.

“We have conducted training for healthcare providers on proper screening, use of protective equipment and COVID-19 protocols and secured adequate supplies of hand sanitisers, cleaning supplies and protective equipment,” Dr Minnis said.

Doctors Hospital on Blake Road will be used to treat people who test positive for COVID-19 and will be secured by defence force officers. Visitors, Dr Minnis said, will not be allowed into the facility unless

We are all in this together, says PM

A 61-year-old woman who tested positive on Saturday is in an isolation area of Princess Margaret Hospital authorised. He said another facility for quarantine purposes is being secured.

The prime minister warned people to trust reliable news sources and avoid fake news amid the pandemic. He urged shoppers not to panic buy, adding law enforcement will be beefed up to maintain law and order. “This crisis is deeply worrying and many are understandably anxious and afraid,” he said. “But out of control fear will not help in

this time of crisis. There will be adequate food at food stores. There is no need for panic-buying. We are also going to enhance national security measures in order to maintain necessary law and order. There is a large amount of fake news being created by people who want to scare you. Ignore them and stay informed via certified organisations

and trusted and responsible news sources. When people forward you material and you do not know who created it and it has no author, that is likely fake news.

Fake news will have you panicked with information that is false.”

He also urged political leaders to work together, saying he has already consulted Progressive Liberal

Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis on the crisis.

“I pledge to keep the leader of the opposition informed of the government’s response,” he said.

“And I hope that if he has ideas he would share them with me so they can be presented in our policy discussions. This is not a time for partisanship. We must work to save lives. We

To read the full speech, go to Tribune242.com

must work to keep people healthy. We must work to preserve our economy.

“Bahamians do not want to see their leaders attacking each other in a crisis. . .If we all try to fix the gaps, if we all try to come up with strategies to limit community spread, if we all focus on the health of our people, we will do better during this crisis.”

Yesterday, Public Services Minister Brensil Rolle said cabinet will discuss the protocol for government workers moving forward.

The Tribune understands Chief Justice Brian Moree will meet with magistrates and judges today to chart out a course of action. He is expected to emphasize reliance on video conferencing.

As of today, people will have limited access to the courts.

Up to press time last night, 162,687 people had been confirmed to have the coronavirus worldwide. There have been 6,065 deaths and 75,620 people have recovered from the disease.

If you think you are experiencing symptoms and need to visit a clinic or doctor’s office, call before you go so as not to put others at risk of becoming infected, health officials advise. Persons can also call the Ministry of Health’s 24-hour hotline at 3769350 between the hours of 8am and 8pm and 376-9387 between 8pm and 8am.

Editorial View - Page 6

Woman, 61, confirmed as first case in The Bahamas

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas is experiencing community transmission of the novel coronavirus after a 61-yearold woman with no recent travel history tested positive for the disease on Saturday.

The woman went to Princess Margaret Hospital on Friday evening with a fever and a cough and is currently in stable condition receiving care in an isolation area of PMH. Acting Minister of Health Jeff Lloyd said at a press conference yesterday that her exposure to the virus is unknown.

“The big concern with someone who doesn’t have a travel history is that it means there is an index case that has passed it on to them locally, that means we are having local transmission,” Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Delon Brennen said yesterday. “If that person had a travel history and was able to prove that they got it somewhere else that’s fine, but this means we know we are having community transmission already and we need to put in our community measures in order to stop that from happening.”

Dr Brennen said when the woman with COVID19 arrived to PMH, she was immediately isolated and was unable to expose other people at the hospital to the disease.

Investigators have started tracing her contacts.

Though no one associated with her had been quarantined up to press time yesterday, Dr Brennen last night said her family and closest friends are being asked to self-isolate.

“You can’t (quarantine people) ahead of time because one, you don’t know who all the family are and two, you don’t know where they are,” he said

HOTLINE NUMBERS The Ministry of Health has established hotline numbers for persons who have: • travelled to COVID-19 affected countries; • been in close contact with persons who travelled to COVID-19 affected countries; • experienced respiratory symptoms; • sought advice on medical care.

The hotline numbers are: • 376-9350 8.0 am – 8.0 pm • 376-9387 8.0 am – 8.0 pm • 376-9357 Additionally, for medical professionals who would like advice on management of patients, contact the Surveillance Unit through the following telephone numbers: • 502-4776 • 502-4790 • 397-1021 • 502-4737 • 502-4728 For updated information on COVID-19, visit the Ministry of Health’s website at www. bahamas.gov.bs/health or the Bahamas Ministry of Health Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MOHBahamas/. at the press conference.

“When we find out there are a number of contacts with the individual, then we spread out and we get those, then we find out from them who else they have been in contact with and we get in contact with them and we cast our net as wide as we can and start pulling people in.”

The woman’s contacts will be asked to stay in their homes and away from others as part of self-isolation measures.

“If it’s found that we are unable to do that effectively by having people do it all on their own, then we may have to move to moving them into a quarantine facility until we can be

sure that they are self-isolating and not able to then transmit it to others,” Dr Brennen said.

Dr Nikkiah Forbes, director of the National HIV/ AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme at the Ministry of Health, said the

woman with COVID-19 was tested Saturday morning after visiting PMH on Friday evening. Her positive result came at midnight on Sunday.

Up to yesterday, eight people in the country had been tested for the coronavirus. Dr Forbes said the question of when and who to test varies by country.

She said the woman did not clearly fit the definition of someone who should be tested. Before her case, Dr Forbes said, testing was based on symptoms with a travel history or being in contact with someone who had a COVID-19 infection and symptoms.

“We did loosen that definition to test people who did not fit that definition and we have tested a number of persons,” she said. “That patient… was actually tested and identified because of our heightened surveillance…

The reason there is no mass testing site at this time is that up to midnight we had no known cases in country and so your strategy can be at that time that you test people who meet the definition. The game changes significantly if you have cases that you do not have a clear epidemiological link (for). In that case, the best advice would be to accelerate testing and do things like where they are having mass testing in other places.”

Officials warned against large gatherings

and implored people to practice social distancing. Dr Forbes warned people with flu-like symptoms to stay home and avoid bombarding hospitals and clinics. If symptoms worsen, she said, people should call their doctor’s office or the national COVID-19 hotline and await instructions.

“When you go to your doctor’s office, on a busy day the waiting room is crowded and there is very little space between people,” she said. “If you go to a busy doctor’s office or a community clinic or the emergency room (of

PMH) which is currently under renovations and sit it the room, if you have COVID, you are highly likely to infect other persons which will cause additional exponential spread. Please call your doctor’s office ahead of time so that the doctor can prepare for your arrival.

We have communicated with the physicians in private practice so that they can be aware of how to sensitise their staff, how to meet patients that are needing care, how to communicate through the surveillance unit to get further guidance.”

PAGE 4, Monday, March 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

RESIDENTS FLOCK TO STOCK UP IN GRAND BAHAMA

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net GRAND Bahamians flocked to grocery stores on the weekend to stock up on essential items as COVID-19 continues its spread worldwide.

People are stocking up on canned and dry goods, vitamin C, bread, milk, as well as fruits and vegetables.

On Sunday, at Cost Right Wholesale, which was packed with shoppers, the pallets of toilet paper were empty, and shoppers fear

that the importation of food supplies from the US will soon cease. “I want to be prepared because we don’t know when food shipments will stop coming from the US,” said one woman who pushed a packed shopping cart.

Most stores on Grand Bahama are sold out of vitamin C supplements.

Due to the perceived shortage, persons are purchasing bags of oranges and orange juice.

Much misinformation circulating on social media about COVID-19 is

sending people in a panic mode, according to a Grand Bahama MP. To inform residents of the facts, on Saturday West Grand Bahama MP Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe held a poorly attended town meeting about COVID19 for her constituents at the Eight Mile Rock High School gymnasium.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis was expected to attend, however, his trip to Grand Bahama was postponed due to more pressing matters in New Providence.

Dr Frank Bartlett, clinical director of paediatrics at Grand Bahama Health Services, was also scheduled to speak, but had to cancel after being called into an emergency meeting as well.

Mrs Parker-Edgecombe stated that more educational campaigns will be held to inform people about the facts concerning the virus. She noted that the lack of information and misinformation is putting people in a “panic mode.”

“The world is facing everything we are facing, and a lot of people are starting

to go into somewhat of a panic mode, and normally this occurs when you don’t really know,” she said.

“We need people to be informed and aware of factual information. At a time like this, fake news seems to be rampant. We are coming here to say not to trust anything unless it is from an official source, which is the Ministry of Health.

“Trust nothing that is going to have you go into some type of hysteria and start spreading false information. Calm heads will prevail in all of this,” she

told the small gathering.

She appealed to everyone to be mindful of how they treat people. “This virus is going to cause for much to take place in terms of the way we greet each other.

We do not have to discriminate against each other, we just need to be informed about how we can protect ourselves,” she said.

The West Grand Bahama MP said residents should follow directives on proper hygiene that have been issued by the Ministry of Health and Grand Bahama Health Services.

US EMBASSY CANCELS ROUTINE VISA TALKS

ACTING Minister of Health Jeffrey Lloyd (left) and Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan addresses the media during a press conference at the Ministry of Health yesteday.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

‘Not enough respirators for a severe outbreak’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net IT IS “highly unlikely” The Bahamas will have enough respirators to handle a severe outbreak of the novel coronavirus and Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan is warning people to take preventative actions now to avoid spread of the disease.

Health officials recommend social distancing, good hygiene and frequent hand washing.

“There is a global shortage (of respirators),” she said at a press conference yesterday. “I don’t know if any of the countries that acquired the enhanced capacity

actually had it in country. It’s highly unlikely that we would have all of (what’s necessary) if we have a full outbreak with a huge number of persons, hence I’m saying to you and saying to the public, we need to adopt the preventive measures, the social distancing. If you are sick, stay home. It’s critical and we still have the opportunity to do that. We want to decrease the likelihood of having that kind of scenario (where there is a major outbreak).”

Even developed countries like Italy have been burdened under the strain of dealing with severe outbreaks of COVID-19, with Italy lacking enough key medical resources to take care of all the sick.

Dr Nikkiah Forbes, director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme at the Ministry of Health, said testing is the only thing that can confirm a case of the novel coronavirus because its symptoms overlap with the flu and cold.

People with flu-like symptoms must stay home, she said.

“If you are having flu-like symptoms, they’re very common and we are in flu and cold season,” Dr Forbes said. “If you are having runny nose, joint pain, cough and fever, please do not flood the hospitals and community settings, clinics or doctors’ offices because cold and flu are common, we usually do not go to the hospital for that.

“At this time there is influenza and cold but there is also this circulating virus that is easily spread within close contact. If you have flulike symptoms, stay at home, do not go to work, self-isolate yourself, find a room in your home away from your family that you can rest and take symptomatic relief, fluids, fever reducers, cough reducers.

If you are worsening and think that you need medical attention, please call ahead to your doctor’s office and speak to them via the telephone or call the COVID hotline…so that you can get further advice.

That’s very important.”

THE US Embassy in Nassau has cancelled routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments to help control the spread of COVID-19.

A press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the embassy will resume routine visa services as soon “as possible but is unable to provide a specific date at this time.”

If members of the travelling public have an urgent matter and need to travel immediately, they should follow the guidance provided at Ais. usvisa-info.com, by phone at 242-6031290 or 703-831-3448, or via email to VisaNassau@state.gov to request an emergency appointment.

The public can visit the embassy’s website https://bs.usembassy.gov/covid19-information/ for additional detail and updates. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced that in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, several overseas offices have closed. These include the Bahamas United Nations Mission, Bahamas Consulate General and Bahamas Maritime Authority in New York.

The Bahamas Embassy in Geneva will close today. The following Bahamian overseas offices in London have closed until further notice – the Bahamas High Commission and the Bahamas Tourist Office.

In other jurisdictions, the physical presence of staff has been significantly reduced, with only essential staff reporting to work and the rest teleworking to ensure the work of the offices. If needed, all offices will be closed and provisions put in place for teleworking, the ministry said.

“All offices are following the local protocols in place for their various jurisdictions,” the ministry noted.

“This includes having in place sanitary and health measures to protect staff and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Staff have also been asked to selfquarantine if they seem to display signs of COVID-19 or have been in contact with anyone who has tested positive, and to follow the local regulations regarding medical attention.”

Additionally, in accordance with national policy in place in the capital, the ministry has suspended all international travel until further notice, both for staff in the overseas offices as well as for staff based in Nassau.

The ministry said it continues to monitor the situation on a constant basis and will immediately take any action that is required to protect staff and prevent the spread of the disease.

OVERSEAS STUDENTS MAKING PLANS TO COME HOME

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN students studying abroad said they are making plans to return home amid fears that the global coronavirus pandemic would cause countries to shut down their airports and close their borders.

In an effort to deter the rapid spread of the respiratory disease, thousands of international universities have closed their campuses, opting instead to transition to online courses and virtual classrooms.

The Tribune spoke to a number of Bahamian students enrolled at American and Canadian institutions who told this newspaper that they felt they would decrease their chances of contracting COVID-19 by returning home.

Kirishnia Cooper, who is studying at St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada, said his

university just sent students an email confirming that “face-to-face” classes were cancelled and that students had to “leave campus and head home immediately.”

Still, he said, students who lived on campus were given a deadline to have their things packed. “Basically, we found out yesterday that they’re allowing us to continue our studies at home,” he said. “For the most part we’re not in a state of fear, but more so we’re just in a rush to head back home just in case airports or borders become closed.”

Mr Cooper, who is in his final year of studies, said while he is concerned that the virus may affect the completion of his degree, he is more concerned about protecting his health.

“The majority of my Bahamian peers are leaving this week and hopefully before Friday I will be home,” he said. “I do have concerns of being exposed to the virus while travelling,

however it is already spreading so whether or not I stay it’s still going to spread.

“But for me, my school is situated in a small town, therefore sicknesses are easily spread here. So it is easier to be home surrounded by family members to assist where they can, than to be in a foreign country by myself.”

Nathan Rolle, who attends Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, returned to New Providence on Saturday after being notified that on-campus classes at his university were suspended for the time being.

“On Thursday my school said that it was resorting to virtual classes and that they’re shutting down the whole school facility because of the outbreak of the virus putting students at risk,” he said.

“We’re actually on spring break now. They extended it for another week and told

us not to come back to the campus as well. They told us by March 21 next week, we must have all our stuff moved out of the dorm and everyone must move out.”

Mr Rolle said he chose to come back because he considered the number of confirmed cases of the virus in Georgia compared to the one case confirmed in Nassau.

“To me, I feel more safer at home,” he explained.

“Even if I got sick, I would not want to be caught in US quarantine.

“I’d rather be quarantined in my own home than quarantined in the US. As an international student, you don’t want yourself to get caught in the US and not be able to come back home. That would be disastrous so the best solution would have been just to go home.”

Mr Rolle said other Bahamians at his school told him they are also making plans to return home.

He added that he met other Bahamian students at the airport when he returned home, who shared his concerns. “Everybody knew about the coronavirus, but nobody expected school to be shut down or anything so this came like a shocker for everyone,” he said. “All of this came about so sporadically. Literally this (past) week is when it really broke out and got serious.”

Angeleah Smith, who studies at Saint Leo University in Florida, said while many of her friends have chosen to return home, she has decided to stay behind.

“My school is transitioning to online classes until further notice,” she told The Tribune. “I chose to stay in Florida because I feel that it’s a big risk going outside, let alone travelling.

“At first my mom wanted me to come home and then she realised that me travelling would be a great risk in general to catch the virus.

“I understand why people

are panicking, but as long as you consider all of the precautions and do what you have to, you will be fine or at least be less at risk.”

Ms Smith said while she is “very concerned” she is not “necessarily in panic mode.”

She added that she is careful to practice all of the precautions to lower her risks of contracting the disease.

“Saint Leo is in a very remote area and there is a Walmart nearby and hardly anybody goes there so I don’t have any issues with getting the things I need.”

Yesterday, the government also released a statement addressing Bahamian students who are currently studying abroad, urging all students to be wise and follow the recommendations and guidelines implemented by their respective institutions.

The government also assured students that there are no restrictions on Bahamian nationals who choose to return home.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 16, 2020, PAGE 5

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A CRUISE ship carrying passengers infected with the novel coronavirus has been anchored 25 miles south west of Freeport since Saturday.

The Minnis administration said the Fred Olsen Cruises ship, which sails under the Bahamas flag, will not be allowed to dock in Bahamian ports or disembark its passengers in this country.

On Sunday, the ship’s captain said there are now 20 guests in isolation having shown flu-like symptoms.

Twenty crew members are also in isolation, including a doctor. “This includes five people who tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus at our last port of call, Willemstad, Curacao, on Tuesday (March 10),” the company said on its website.

“All our supplies and medications are at the pier in Freeport,” said the ship’s captain, Jozo Glavic. “They have been there since yesterday. We are still waiting for clearance for delivery.

We will not go anywhere until we have the medical staff on board and these supplies arrive. I can tell you that our situation continues to be looked at as a matter of the utmost urgency between the UK government and our head office. Until then, please continue to bear with me and my crew.”

Peter Deer, managing director of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Captain Jozo Glavic and his crew for working so hard for so long in very challenging circumstances. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to our guests for their patience. We have been working around the clock with the Bahamian authorities to get supplies on to the ship but it is taking longer than we expected to get the necessary clearances.

We are also liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who I know are doing everything they can to get people home as soon as possible.”

THE BRAEMAR, carrying passengers infected with the novel coronavirus, has been anchored 25 miles south west of Freeport since Saturday.

Cruise ship still waiting offshore In a statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Transport said the United Kingdom requested from clearance for two British government personnel to enter the country via air.

“The British personnel will deploy to Freeport, Grand Bahama on Saturday 14 March to help the high commissioner with ensuring medicines reach the MS Braemar. They

will be in The Bahamas for a short period while the ship is refueling and the Braemar will leave The Bahamas immediately thereafter.

“In order to receive this assistance, the vessel is scheduled to anchor 25 miles out to sea in the northern Bahamas away from any land mass. . .The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) continues to be

Nursing homes to bring in new safety rules

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net LOCAL nursing homes say they plan to enforce a number of precautionary measures to limit their residents’ risk of exposure to infection amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak.

Medical experts say senior citizens are particularly vulnerable to contracting the disease.

In an effort to be proactive, several senior citizen homes throughout New Providence told The Tribune they plan to revise their visiting regulations to limit the number of people who could possibly expose their residents to the virus.

Marsha McQueen, manager of Coastline Community Care Nursing Home, said while none of their residents have underlying respiratory issues, they were still concerned about the virus as some of the seniors were “medical patients with various ailments.”

“What we did immediately, based on the notices going out, is put in place where we are allowing immediate relatives only to visit,” she said.

“We also postponed all groups and civic groups doing the visitation and we’re asking all family members who are visiting to avoid coming in if they have a cold or the flu.

“We’ve basically put in place all the guidelines that have been suggested, along with taking those same necessary precautions from a healthcare standpoint.

Mrs McQueen also said

the nursing home is asking people to be mindful about the severe impact the virus can have on the elderly.

“If your job entails something where you have to interact with foreigners or large groups, then don’t come directly to the nursing home from there,” she advised.

“In a nursing atmosphere, sanitation and washing hands is a must. That is one of the things that we have always stressed. Those precautions are daily and we are pushing them even more.”

Dr Sinymae Capron, owner of the Good Samaritan Senior Citizen Home, added that staff were being extra careful after discovering that elderly people are specifically at risk.

“We’re right here bracing in case anything (happens) because of what we heard happened in the US with the nursing home there where some folks died,” she said.

Dr Capron was referring to The Life Care Centre, a nursing home in Washington, DC, that had 19 residents who died after contracting the novel coronavirus.

“We don’t really have patients with underlying respiratory issues, but we’re still afraid because we have a lot of sick patients who are really ailing from stuff,” she said.

Dr Capron insisted the home’s staff were being extra cautious with large groups of people and foreigners coming to visit residents.

“That’s something we’re

watching right now, because some of these patients do have relatives abroad and sometimes they come to visit them. So those are things we have to look at,” she explained.

“We had a doctor that called us late in the night because yesterday (Thursday) we were supposed to take a few of them to the eye clinic, but they cancelled that because of all of the (fear surrounding the virus) so we were glad of that.

“With the elderly people, we give them the Clorox wipes to wipe their hands and we make sure they wash their hands. We also make sure all the door knobs are clean because people are always touching doors.”

Francis Ledee, owner of the Persis Rodgers Home for the Aged, said her nursing home was “watching and following” all of the news and information being published about the coronavirus.

“We’re following stepby-step the directions that were issued by the chief health officer and the officials,” she said.

When asked whether any residents had underlying respiratory issues she added: “We don’t have any asthmatics per se, but they pick up colds and we’re watching that. We are following the directions of the health ministry and the government. Whatever they say we have got to follow it. It’s very possible we may have to cool down on public visiting, we may have to do that too.”

in constant communication with the owners of the Braemer, which is a Bahamas-flagged ship.

“The BMA continues to monitor the well-being of passengers and crew with updates at regular intervals. The government of

The Bahamas reaffirms its continued commitment to take action in the best interest of the public health and safety and well-being of the Bahamian people and residents of The Bahamas. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the people

who have contracted the coronavirus and who are at immediate risk.”

The Freeport Harbour Company released a statement yesterday confirming the Braemar ship will not be allowed to dock at Freeport Harbour.

PAGE 6, Monday, March 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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We must be united, Bahamaland THE day we feared would come has finally arrived. A patient from The Bahamas has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. The woman concerned had not travelled recently, so she contracted it here.

There were two waves of reaction to this. The first was the kind we don’t need – the idle speculation and false stories about who the woman was and how she got the virus, circulated on social media and completely false.

The second was the sober plan laid out by the government in response to the news. Schools will be closed until April 14 and restrictions have been placed on travel. Previous restrictions imposed for visitors from Italy, South Korea, Iran and China have been extended to the rest of Europe, including the UK and Ireland.

Limitations such as these are being introduced for one reason – to limit the risk of spreading the virus. With no schools open, children and teachers cannot spread the virus to one another.

Reducing the number of people who have access to the country makes it harder for more cases to come in from the outside. These measures give the medical community one thing more than anything else – time. Time to help curtail the spread. Time to deal with the cases they have without being overwhelmed.

Time to help our fellow Bahamians.

It is up to us then to play our part.

There is little point in keeping children out of school if we pack them up and send them off to large gatherings or to elderly relatives. As much as possible, we should try to limit our own movements. Parties can wait. Get togethers

can wait. Carry on with the activities you need to, but for a time, maybe consider each activity before you take part and ask yourself if it really needs to be something you say yes to right now.

Each time you get together with other people, there’s a chance you might pick up the virus. The bigger the crowd, the greater the chance. And you might unwittingly carry it to friends or relatives who are in danger categories. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re safe because you’re not in a risk category – you might be the one who carries it to someone who is.

This is a time for unity. This is when we must think of our fellow Bahamians.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said as much himself in his national address last night – calling for political leaders to work together, and saying he is open to ideas from Opposition Leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis. As united as we must be in taking precautions to reduce the risk of spreading this virus, so too must our nation’s leaders be united.

As our nation’s anthem says, pledge to excel through love and unity. Show your love for your fellow Bahamians by refraining from actions that could spread the virus, and by taking sensible precautions - not overreacting in panic. Show your unity by following all sensible advice, and not sniping and criticising – and certainly by not sharing irresponsible fake stories on social media.

Together, we can slow the progress of this virus. And if we can do that, we shall march on, Bahamaland, and be all the stronger for doing so together.

It seems that no-one cares for the homeless on our streets EDITOR, The Tribune USUALLY referred to as vagrants, but it becomes obvious when you begin to interact with them, that clearly these Bahamians are operating under diminished responsibility ... therefore, what government entity is responsible to pick them up?

Thank you for this small space in your daily newspaper, to address this gaping problem and perhaps lack of humanity, evident in Nassau town.

Sometime around 2:30pm on Friday, March 13, 2020, while headed to the downtown library, with a specific study material on agenda this is what took place, As I approached the Garden of Remembrance, a homeless man who was there from the day before, who then, was speaking with one of the business owners in the area, was still there, but this time a plainclothed officer was speaking with him. I indicated that I was convinced that the business woman

would have seen to it that he got help, didn’t happened. The officer said the man’s complaint was one of needing food, something to eat...he gave the man some money to fetch food, but one could tell that the man had injuries.

I suggested that the ambulance and police be called in. The officer said calling the ambulance would be a waste of time, because they would not take him, he needs a shower. But this has to change.

The country and all of its health institutions, are responsible for the man’s restorative care.

I see the same thing all around town, especially near Dunkin Donuts restaurant and it seemed like no one cares. From time to time, you would see the tourists giving whatever they could, money, coffee, food and encouragement.

The state must do a better job, to help provide the institutional comforts and free doctors’ oversight for the indigent.... the needy, poverty-stricken and physically-and mentally sick,

moving about aimlessly and without a purpose...on the Island of New Providence and in the City of Nassau, The Bahamas... after all, God is watching the way we treat His creation.

Many of these people get their scraps to eat, right out of garbage bins in the city centre…right on Bay Street, and people walk by as if it is just one of those things. No, it is not just one of those things. God, Himself said, whatsoever you have done to the least of these, you have done it unto me. If they’re hungry and you feed them...homeless and you provided shelter... naked and you clothed them, sick and you visited them, you have done it unto Me. Vengeance is mine says God and I shall repay.

Thank you, editor, for the space in your daily newspaper, appreciate it…

Blessings always.

FRANK GILBERT Nassau March 13, 2020.

A new Sunday schedule EDITOR, The Tribune EARLIER this month Catholic Archbishop Patrick Pinder urged parishioners with flu-like symptoms to remain at home until their health improved.

Other religious denominations quickly followed his lead. Now that we have the first confirmed case of Coronavirus in our midst, elderly persons are advised to self quarantine to stay out of harms way, which

means that churches, where many congregate, should no longer be on your calendar.

However, Catholics can self quarantine, but go to daily Mass by tuning in to the Catholic station EWTN that broadcasts worldwide with not only daily Mass, but many interesting and informative programmes.

To get around not going to Sunday Mass just turn on your TV, channel 657, and join in the celebration of Mass at 8am. There is also

a second mass around 12 noon, and I believe there might be one in the evening.

This is the Sunday schedule, but I think it is also daily — certainly morning mass is.

So during this period of self exile for the churchgoer, whatever your religious persuasion, I highly recommend EWTN to help you over this crisis.

AN EWTN FAN Nassau March 15, 2020

Expanding gap between rich and poor EDITOR, The Tribune COUNTRIES around the world face the challenge of financing the living standards of their populations while remaining attractive to international consumers of their goods or services.

In the case of The Bahamas, that challenge has always been easy. We attract billions of dollars of foreign investment annually, millions of tourists by sea and air and tens of thousands of foreign residents, all participating in our economy in one way or another.

Against this, we have a tiny resident population relative both to foreign investment (in a bad year, about $2,700 per resident) and to available land mass.

It is an enviable position to be in and it explains how we found early national success without radical corrections to an imperfect historical template.

Lynden Pindling clearly understood this, and so (to be fair) did Stafford Sands.

Under both their regimes, the idea was to gently extract from the tourist, the investor and the foreign resident in order to maximize opportunities and services for the locals.

Laws and policies in a number of areas reflected this.

As I pointed out in an earlier letter, cruise ships were historically mandated to close down entertainment while in port as a boost to local businesses. The industry attracted few concessions, both because it was deemed less beneficial than the hotel industry and because it clearly did (and does) not need them.

Real Property Taxes were applied only to foreigners in the Family Islands, Bahamians being exempted. This created a natural transfer of wealth from foreign to Bahamian residents in the less developed (but highly sought after) outlying islands.

While maintaining an untaxed but lucrative “offshore” sector, government strictly limited foreign involvement in the ‘domestic’ economy, which was reserved for Bahamians in the professions, retailing and real estate development. Within the domestic economy, tax policy favoured Bahamians.

That basic recipe served us well for decades. Tax receipts grew naturally in line with the growth of tourism and foreign residency in our country, while foreign investment was attracted by abundant advantages of nature and location (advantages that still exist and that

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net still attract), rather than supine concessions. We also grew and maintained a healthy middle class.

Sadly, we are now governed by people with little understanding of things, who are prepared to sacrifice our country’s very strong position in the businesses we are engaged in (primarily tourism) for virtual trinkets and who have morphed the logic of competitiveness into an argument for surrender of the very things that our successes should be geared toward maintaining.

Beginning with Ingraham and accelerating with Minnis, the FNM’s development philosophy fixates on one single aspect of foreign participation in the Bahamian economy: jobs. In this single-minded focus, it has literally opened the floodgates on giveaway tax concessions, swept away hard-won protections and eroded policies that discriminate in favour of Bahamians.

In tax policy, the tendency now is to squeeze the local population with taxes while exempting the foreigner, the investor and the wealthy corporation – often on a vast and astonishing scale.

We got a nasty glimpse of this in 2018 when, amidst outrage over its drastic and unconsulted increase in VAT, the government instantly backed down to a single letter by a Lyford Cay resident demanding no change to the pitifully low rate of Real Property Tax paid by wealthy second homeowners (presumably for the benefit of hiring Filipinos and pricing Bahamians out of land ownership in their country).

That was bad enough.

But what few Bahamians realize is that, at this very moment, their “People’s time” government is preparing to begin seizing, advertising and selling properties for non-payment of Real Property Taxes.

The catch? This tough new measure is intended for use against Bahamians only.

Firstly, it is to be restricted to New Providence, the only island where Bahamians are not exempted from Real Property Tax at the expense of foreigners.

Secondly, amendments to the Real Property Tax Act have already removed from the Treasurer the power of sale of tax-delinquent property beneficially owned by non-Bahamians only!

In other words, wealthy foreigners (like that chap from Lyford Cay) are deliberately spared the prospect of government seizing and selling their homes should they abuse the privilege of being here by flouting taxes, while ordinary Bahamians are targeted for just such an eventuality.

The Disney Corporation, which reports close to 70 billion dollars in annual revenues and which clearly already makes vast profits in the Bahamas, has just been granted a comprehensive waiver of VAT for allowing us to help them make even more money via the controversial Lighthouse project in Eleuthera.

Executives from both our Ministry of Tourism and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines are quick to boast that Coco Cay in the Berry Islands is now that company’s number one destination on the planet.

Yet neither the government nor the company bothers to explain to the Bahamian people why they nonetheless need vast tax concessions to convince them to keep investing.

Likewise, Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar boasts that 2019 saw 7 million tourists (the most ever), yet on the other hand he and his colleagues constantly tell us (the residents of a tourism-driven country) that revenues are challenged. Few seem to note the contradiction.

Signs of the contradiction are visible everywhere. Last week, in George Town, Exuma, I found myself perusing a pile of books under a “take one for free” sign at the exit of Exuma Markets foodstore. They were the remains of the local Library, which has been closed down. A tourist next to me could not understand why a destination so obviously bursting with yachts, foreign residents and general tourist activity could not afford to keep a library open for the children of its small population. Sadly, I myself understood very well, being familiar with the mindset of those who govern us.

All of these foolish policies are pursued in the forlorn hope that they will cause investors to create more jobs. They won’t.

They will only cause them to take and keep more of their profits at home. In the meantime, they deform The Bahamas, shrink its middle class and expand the gap between rich and poor.

ANDREW ALLEN Nassau, March 15, 2020

MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

Don’t panic - it’s time to think of others, not just ourselves

by Malcolm Strachan AS the nation has watched the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, go from a “foreign virus” that spread through Wuhan, China, with epic speed, inch closer and closer to our shores, it has been unsettling to see it reach 118 countries to date. No doubt, any nation still reeling from the disastrous impact of Hurricane Dorian would have citizens gripped by fear.

Nonetheless, there is a point in between fear and preparation where we must realise that over-reacting may do more to harm us than help us.

We can definitely argue that a global border shutdown at the onset may have allowed those already infected in China to go through quarantine and hopefully they would have all recovered allowing the world to dodge a gigantic bullet. Unfortunately, that is not today’s conversation.

Since the World Health Organisation last week made the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic, would-haves, could-haves and should-haves have all been tossed out of the window.

We can only look at what we can do now. And for each country, that has to make sense.

For The Bahamas, a nation dependent on international tourism, we are certainly in a vulnerable position. With one of our major source markets being levelled by the spread of the virus, the WHO’s declaration happened at the right time.

Likewise, cancellations and suspensions of major sporting events and seasons, as celebrities and government leaders contract the virus too – The Bahamas is able to react in an environment that is becoming more controlled as other countries tighten up their borders.

This much was seen last week, as a ship carrying five individuals infected with COVID-19 was not allowed to dock at its final destination in Barbados.

Subsequently, this ship was also refused docking in The Bahamas by the ministry of transport in a decisive act to prevent the spread of the virus in our country.

Though decisions like this are what we want to see, we also must not take for granted, being a tourismbased economy depending heavily on imports, escaping this crisis entirely.

Health Minister Dr Duane Sands intimated as much last week when he spoke to local media.

Providing his best estimate, Dr Sands said: “The worst case scenario, let’s say is Wuhan, China, where there have been 80,000 cases. Wuhan has a population of about 15 million, but if we say out of the Chinese population of 1.4 billion… that maybe 80 million people contributed to that 80,000 cases and then you extrapolate to the population of The Bahamas which is 400,000 people.

“Doing that arithmetic, you would get a worst-case scenario of some 400 cases in The Bahamas. Now we also know that out those 400 cases, 80 percent of people don’t even know they have it, okay. That’s four out of every five…

10 percent of people wind up with serious infection and wind up in hospital and about five percent of people wind up critically ill.

“So even if we have a Wuhan-like scenario in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, we’re looking at hospitalised, potentially less than 100 people and the Intensive Care Unit, deaths, etc worst-case scenario based on the Wuhan scenario even less.”

Certainly, other factors come into play. Population density, personal hygiene, pre-existing health conditions, healthcare system capacity and measures taken to stem the spread of the virus once the first case is detected – all play significant roles, the latter of which have been key factors in China finally being able to slow down the spread of disease.

Some of the larger question marks for us are twofold. From the government side of things, what contingencies are being put in place to support our healthcare system? We just witnessed its crippling in Hurricane Dorian. While the types of needs will be different, of course, the government is hopefully making the best of the lead time it has. And to be fair, by all of their indications,

they have continuously told the Bahamian people that they have been getting ready for weeks.

We can only hope that when it is time to show and prove it that stable hands are at the wheel.

The other piece that determines how we will get through this depends on the people – the citizens of The Bahamas. As we have become a nation far removed from a collective society, the penchant to only look out for “number one” will cause unspeakable heartache if we cannot see beyond such selfishness.

Not if, but when the coronavirus reaches our shores, it will be incumbent on every citizen to think of their fellow Bahamian. We will have to love the elderly and practice good hygiene.

We will have to take care of each other in that way and inform ourselves with qualified knowledge from the experts.

Running to be the first to spread misinformation only results in widespread pandemonium.

Getting into a frenzy stocking up on items that may not necessarily help you in the grand scheme of things is nonsensical. Everyone just needs to take a breather.

Certainly, everything looks a lot scarier when it happens to the US. But in that same vein, with them being forced to take a more active role in preventing the spread of the virus, we have gained a lot of valuable insight for what not to do.

Focusing on the information and following the advice of experts internationally and locally is what will give us the best chance of getting through this with minimal damage. The prime minister is right in that we should not be panicking. Rather, we should prepare ourselves.

Under the direction of Health Minister Dr Duane Sands, the ministry of health has given us good guidelines on how to best protect ourselves and as this fluid situation continues to take shape, we must do away with partisan-driven attacks on the government and avoid false narratives as COVID-19 doesn’t care where you mark in the ballot box.

Together - and only together - we can get through this.

UNDER the direction of Health Minister Dr Duane Sands, the ministry of health has given us good guidelines on how to best protect ourselves

PAGE 8 MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Financial measures necessary to ride out this crisis

CRUISES to the Caribbean have been badly affected. Stock values in Carnival Corp. are down 52.7 percent year-to-date; Royal Caribbean is down 61.3 percent, and Norwegian has fallen 65 percent.

REGARDLESS of the number of coronavirus cases (COVID-19) that occur in the Caribbean, the economies of each of them, particularly those dependent on tourism, will suffer in the immediate to medium term.

Fear, and travel restrictions on people living in countries with COVID19, have already disrupted the global economy and supply chains for goods and services.

Indeed, every country in the world will be adversely affected economically even if any of them avoid a major public health emergency. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has already made an early forecast that its predicted 3.3 percent growth in 2020 will not occur. Optimistically, the Fund now expects growth below 2.9 percent.

Growth rates in the tourism-reliant countries have already declined. Many hotels have experienced cancellations over the immediate period and well into the next winter season.

Of the world’s top 25 tourism dependent countries, nine are in the Caribbean.

In order of highest dependence, they are: British Virgin Islands, Aruba, The Bahamas, St Lucia, Belize, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and Jamaica.

With a reduction in the numbers of hotel guests and patrons of restaurants as well as the numbers renting vehicles, earnings in the sector have dropped; jobs are being lost and government revenues are declining.

The situation is worse for those Caribbean countries that also rely on cruise ships as part of the overall contribution of tourism to the economy. The latest authoritative figures rank those countries in order of dependence as: St. Kitts and Nevis at 5.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product

On be half of your family and colleagues @ First Carribbean International Bank Successfully passing the prestigious Certified International Financial Planner (CIFP) examination. Continue to make strides as you navigate your path and professional Journey.

(GDP); Antigua and Barbuda 4.1 percent; Belize 4.0 percent, St. Lucia 3.9 percent; Bahamas 3 percent; Dominica 3 percent; Grenada 2.8 percent; and Barbados 1.5 percent.

The US State Department has been discouraging cruise ship travel, warning US citizens, particularly travellers with underlying health conditions, “not to travel by cruise ship”. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidance, cautioning travellers of “increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment”.

Fear of being quarantined on a cruise ship anywhere in the world has frightened potential passengers. Cruises to the Caribbean have been badly

affected. Stock values in Carnival Corp. are down 52.7 percent year-to-date; Royal Caribbean is down 61.3 percent, and Norwegian has fallen 65 percent.

Obviously, all the commercial businesses in the tourism sector in Caribbean countries will also face a reduction in their profits.

If the fear over COVID19 persists and the quest for a vaccine is protracted, these businesses could fall into financial loss. In those circumstances, even more workers will be laid-off and their restricted spending will impact other sectors from which they buy goods and services.

Governments will be particularly hard-pressed because they will be deprived of revenues at a time when they are required to spend more money, much of it in foreign exchange, in their attempts to militate against COVID-19 which, despite best efforts, will enter their countries and could spread into community clusters as it has done elsewhere in the world.

Small Caribbean states do not have the

considerable resources or economic and fiscal tools of rich North American and European countries that can be deployed by Treasury Departments and Central Banks. But, there are still some options available provided all sections of the society assume the mantle that “everyone is in this together”.

Measures to stop the incubation and spread of the virus, including good hygiene, meticulous handwashing, self-isolation, cancellation of events that attract large crowds – all of these are necessary. But steps will also have to be taken to help both persons who become unemployed and those self-employed persons who fall ill with COVID-19 and are forced not to work for a minimum of 14 days.

The banking sector could be enormously helpful in efforts to keep the economy buoyant by implementing several actions.

Among them: renegotiate payment terms for house mortgages and other property, particularly vehicles, for people who are either temporarily laid-off or selfemployed who cannot earn because of illness; bank fees and charges, which are higher in the Caribbean than in many other parts of the world could be reduced significantly; and interest rates on loans could also be decreased while COVID19 affects economies.

Certainly, government debt to domestic banks should be renegotiated and the banks should agree to extend the repayment periods and reduce the interest rates while governments are compelled to increase spending to deal with the public health emergency that all Caribbean countries now face.

If, heaven forbid, banks are unwilling to adopt such measures, which, ultimately, will be to their benefit by ensuring that loans don’t sour, and customers can continue to buy their services, then governments might have to resort to legislation to urge them in a sensible direction.

Trade Unions and other

bargaining agents could also play an important part in the current crisis by putting into abeyance all demands for increased wages and payment of arrears. Making such demands, at a time when both governments and the private sector face reduced income, would destabilize already unstable economies.

Governments might also have to consider placing a moratorium on repayment of foreign debts. The repayment of such debt requires foreign exchange, whose earning will be reduced by the decline in tourism.

Further, existing foreign exchange reserves will dwindle as those reserves are used to continue to import goods and services for the society, including new spending on equipment and medicines to fight the coronavirus.

No reasonable international bank or foreign lending agency, including Export-Import banks of individual nations, could demand to be paid debts in full at a time of impossibility, when there is every possibility of debts being discharged in the future.

The spread of COVID19 in North America and Europe, and the economic effect on the Caribbean region, once again demonstrates the region’s vulnerability to external circumstances.

The need for a stronger, more resilient, more integrated region - at all levels including fiscal policies and financial strategies - is emphasised by the vulnerability that COVID-19 has underscored, even though the virus itself has hardly hit Caribbean shores.

The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own. Responses and previous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

By Michael J. Socolow Associate Professor, Communication and Journalism, University of Maine

T

HE President of the United States was speaking to the nation live, on television, from the Oval Office. His topic was the new coronavirus, and his mission was clear.

“This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history,” he assured the American citizenry, “and we are responding with great speed and professionalism.”

Yet, when the brief address was over, his aides needed to quickly clarify what he had said because it failed to align with the reality of the policies his administration planned to take. And the following morning, stock trading was halted 38 minutes into the daily session when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7 percent, demonstrating the financial markets he sought to calm remained troubled by his leadership.

In other words: President Donald Trump’s March 11 speech failed to fulfil the most important goals of a live, prime-time broadcast address from the White House.

Since Franklin D Roosevelt offered his first “fireside chat” 87 years ago, using broadcasting to calm the nation in times of duress has proven to be one of the most potent tools of the presidency.

But these addresses need to closely hew to the blueprint Roosevelt invented in order to be deemed successful.

Reassuring the nation President Franklin D Roosevelt and his advisers knew he had to do something.

The US banking system faced imminent collapse; depositors around the country waited anxiously in line to withdraw their funds. To stop the run, on March 6, 1933, the entire banking system was shuttered. Three days later, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act.

By March 12, with the banks ready to reopen, nobody knew what was about to happen. The nation required both information and assurance.

So at 10pm Eastern time, Roosevelt began his first “fireside chat,” to explain – in clear and accessible terms – precisely what had just occurred, and what was going to happen beginning the next day.

That live address from the White House to an estimated 60 million listeners across the United States proved broadcasting’s power as nothing before or since. As a scholar of radio history, I’ve analyzed how that first fireside chat inspired both social psychologists and commercial advertisers to investigate the influential power of broadcasting.

Roosevelt’s address 87 years ago provided the model future presidents would use to inform the American citizenry, calm national anxieties and establish the crucial importance of a moment in time.

The live, primetime address from the Oval Office became a staple of White House communication.

The first President to speak through the new medium of radio was Warren G Harding, who

INSIGHT

MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020 PAGE 9

A simple ‘fireside chat’ to reassure the nation - and Trump blew it

PRESIDENT Donald Trump addresses to the nation from the Oval Office at the White House last week offered a few words in a brief public ceremony on June 14, 1922.

But for Harding, and successors Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, radio broadcasting – and the national communication it offered – was never considered an essential tool of governance. None of the three Republicans used this new medium of mass communication effectively.

In New York state, however, the Democratic governor – Franklin D Roosevelt – had begun using the state’s small radio network to promote his agenda directly to citizens.

He delivered a series of radio addresses in 1929 and 1930 to counter the intransigence of the state legislature’s Republican majority. His advisers noted both Roosevelt’s natural talent and radio’s remarkable effectiveness in reaching voters directly.

The governor could bypass not only his opposition in the legislature, but also the Republican newspapers editorializing against his policies.

By speaking directly to citizens, Roosevelt measurably influenced public opinion and successfully promoted his policies.

Roosevelt and his advisers brought this awareness to Washington after he won the presidential election.

Calming the panic Following his March 4, 1933, inauguration during the Great Depression, the Roosevelt administration had to address the cascading series of dire crises facing the nation.

The banking crisis proved most threatening. At first it appeared to be yet another economic panic of the sort that had occasionally bedevilled the U.S. financial system.

It soon became obvious that the 1932-1933 crisis was potentially more catastrophic than any earlier panic. Aside from legislation, something less formal but perhaps more important was required:

reassuring the American people about the safety of their economic system.

Thus, the informal and informative radio address style that Roosevelt pioneered in Albany was rolled out on the national stage.

“I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking,” he began on that Sunday evening.

The address was notable for its stylistic clarity and the way it combined an authoritative discussion of banking with a neighbourly, even friendly, tone.

“You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumours or guesses,” he told an estimated 60 million listeners.

“Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work. It is your problem no less than it is mine.

Together we cannot fail.”

It worked. It so calmed the nation while slowing (and eventually ending) the bank run that it established the model for all ensuing fireside chats over the next 12 years. Every succeeding president eventually followed the basic Roosevelt model.

‘Important and historic information’ The live, prime-time national address from the White House represents a unique opportunity for a presidency. If mishandled or improperly employed, it can backfire.

Among those that didn’t work out: Lyndon B. Johnson surprised the country and much of his Democratic constituency by announcing his refusal to run for reelection in 1968.

President Jimmy Carter addressed what he considered a “crisis of confidence” in the United States in 1979.

That speech remains tarnished by a word Carter never actually uttered – it was labeled the “malaise” speech – and it warned future presidents about the format’s rhetorical limits.

SINCE Franklin D Roosevelt offered his first “fireside chat” 87 years ago, using broadcasting to calm the nation in times of duress has proven to be one of the most potent tools of the presidency.

Yet these bad examples do not overshadow the numerous other historical moments when the nation experienced direct presidential addresses via broadcasting.

From President Harry Truman’s addresses announcing the surrenders of Germany and Japan in 1945 to President Barack Obama declaring the capture and execution of Osama bin Laden in 2011, the American people were given important and historic information direct from the White House

through the same basic framework that Roosevelt pioneered 87 years ago.

The coronavirus and an anxious public Several goals characterize the prime-time, scripted, live Oval Office address.

The first is to designate the subject under discussion as historically significant and worthy of the format. The second is to inform the citizenry in order to persuade people to believe or act in specific ways. The third is to reassure the nation.

Underlying those objectives: To establish confidence in presidential authority, which, by itself, should reassure.

In the current public health crisis, the White House has preferred a different mass communication approach. President Trump has briefly and hastily addressed the media from a podium, but turned over much of his time to his coronavirus response team. He held a photo and video opportunity with government scientists at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. And he continues to tweet.

None of these communication strategies was equal to the moment. So the White House finally decided to try the live address to the nation.

But without respecting it as a structured format, the address failed to achieve its mission of clearly informing - and calming - the anxious nation.

While social media seemingly spreads and inflames our national anxiety, television offered the Trump administration a valuable opportunity to seize the moment and ameliorate a national problem.

Yet, like the earlier presidential administrations that approached the format without the care and practice of the Roosevelt administration, the whole exercise only exacerbated the problem it was ostensibly employed to fix. theconversation.com

PAGE 10 MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020

UNDER a new proposal, bourzwa fish will only be permitted to be caught and sold in Seychelles.

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Banning exports may not help save vulnerable fish stocks

By James Robinson, Senior Research Associate and Nick Graham, Professor of Marine Ecology Lancaster University

TROPICAL island states enjoy global demand for their seafood, but many have growing populations and hungry tourists to feed.

Their fisheries are often unregulated and lack data on the exploitation status of fish populations. Without this information, some countries are preparing to protect them by limiting international seafood trade.

In February 2020, Danny Faure, president of the Seychelles, announced an export ban on “bourzwa”, a tropical red snapper that has doubled in price over the last decade. Meanwhile, on January 1, 2020, Palau introduced a new marine sanctuary, banning commercial fishing in 80 percent of its waters.

Both Seychelles’ export ban and Palau’s marine sanctuary are designed to protect domestic seafood supplies and conserve ecosystems, such as coral reefs, that are vulnerable to climate change. The international seafood trade can enrich tropical islands in the short term, as foreign fleets pay for permission to fish in their waters. But, as islands off West Africa such as Cape Verde have found, the long-term result can be depleted fish stocks – with over half of the region’s fisheries overfished.

Are seafood export bans the solution? Our research using rare long-term catch

PALAU’s new sanctuary data from the Seychelles suggests that these bans could have unexpected consequences, for fish stocks and the livelihoods of people they’re designed to protect.

Seychelles and Palau People in the Seychelles eat more seafood than any other country in Africa, averaging 60kg per person per year. But as many seafood species, including bourzwa, have become valuable exports, their prices have jumped, making some popular fish unaffordable for many locals.

Bourzwa are caught on the Mahè plateau, a productive fishing ground covering about 41,000km², where Seychellois fishermen catch over 1,000 tonnes of fish each year. These fisheries target a diverse group of species, including groupers, jacks and barracuda, as well as bourzwa. But the red snapper fisheries that target bourzwa are in trouble – our study found that catches have halved since 1990.

Our research showed that all of these species are in decline, with an average 65 percent drop in catch rates over 27 years. These catch declines coincided with a quadrupling of the fishing fleet, with fishermen spending more time fishing, using more fuel and expanding their fishing grounds.

Banning exports might reduce fishing pressure on bourzwa. But local markets buy over four times as much snapper than is exported, suggesting that prices are unlikely to drop.

A ban could also shift fishing effort onto other export species, such as long-lived groupers that are vulnerable to overfishing, and disproportionately disadvantage bourzwa fishermen.

We also found that fishermen who caught lots of different fish, rather than relying on one species,

had bigger catches and higher revenues. Alongside an export ban, the government of Seychelles could bring in regulation to encourage fishermen to diversify what they catch.

Spreading fishing effort across different fish stocks can help vulnerable species like bourzwa recover, while also protecting livelihoods.

Meanwhile, much of the fish consumed in Palau is caught by foreign industrial vessels. Palau’s new sanctuary excluded this offshore fleet, but it inadvertently shifted fishing pressure inshore. As a result, the marine sanctuary has increased pressure on coral reef species.

Seychellois fish markets also depend on coral reefs, which have remained productive despite mass coral bleaching. It’s unclear if a snapper export ban would increase fishing on Seychelles’ reefs, but Palau’s experiment shows the importance of understanding which species and ecosystems feed coastal communities before making big policy decisions.

Reducing seafood exports might help reduce pressure on tropical fisheries, but these bans won’t make the fisheries sustainable on their own, and may even be overruled by World Trade Organisation rules. Fishing regulations are a more effective way of protecting them from international trade.

These should help tropical countries to maximise the diversity of fish their fisheries catch, protecting particular fish stocks from plunder and certain fishermen from poverty.

For fishing bans to succeed, governments need to thoroughly understand the local and international demand on different fisheries and ecosystems, to anticipate knock-on effects for the people and marine life they support. theconversation.com

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 16, 2020, PAGE 11

75-YEAR-OLD SHOT DEAD AFTER PULLING OUT GUN from page one

pursued him.

They engaged him at this point.

There was an exchange of gunshots between both the suspect and the officers. The suspect was fatally shot.

“At the end of the ordeal, there was a search of the male (and) we got two weapons from the male suspect, both pistols. We know the male suspect. He was signing in at the station as mandated by the court as part of his bail requirements. He was on bail for a grievous harm matter and I

would say this male suspect is well in his 70s.”

Some residents living nearby were woken by the sound of the gunfire. At first there was a brief period of rapid fire, followed by more intermittent shooting. In all it sounded as if at least a dozen shots were fired.

CSP Cash said the officers involved are traumatised, but not injured. He said the deceased suffered multiple gunshot wounds. He said police acted appropriately during the ordeal.

“You protect your life as much as possible,” he said.

“Even though the officers may be armed, if a gun is

pointed at you before you have an opportunity (to defend yourself), the likelihood of you being shot is there so the officers did the right thing and ran until they were able to prepare themselves to better protect themselves.”

The deceased man is Cedric Thompson, 75, according to published reports, who had been charged with throwing acid on a man last year.

CSP Cash could not say if the police station had cameras.

This is the fourth policeinvolved killing for the year.

POLICE INVESTIGATING ANOTHER TWO MURDERS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

POLICE are investigating the country’s two latest murders.

The killings have brought the murder total for the year to 16, according to The Tribune’s records, after a man and a woman were killed in separate incidents.

In the first incident, police said around midnight Friday, two women were outside a residence on Carmichael Road east of Lazaretto Road when

they were approached by three men, one of whom was armed and opened fire on them, injuring one of the women. Paramedics came and attempted to revive the woman, but were unsuccessful.

The second killing happened in Grand Bahama.

Police said shortly before 1am Friday, they were called to the Sunset Village area at the local Fish Fry in Eight Mile Rock where there were reports of gunshots being fired. Officers responded and saw an argument going on between a

group of men that resulted in one of the men discharging a firearm and wounding a man and a woman, police said.

The man was taken to the accident and emergency section of the Rand Memorial Hospital by private vehicle. He was seen and treated by a doctor, but later died. The woman received a non-life threatening injury to her leg.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 502-9991 or the Crime Stoppers hotline at 328TIPS (8477).

ACP Samuel Butler with members of the media including, far left, Denise Maycock of The Tribune

BUTLER STEPS DOWN AFTER 40 YEARS ON THE FORCE

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Samuel Butler, the officer-in-charge of Grand Bahama and the northern district, is retiring after 40 years of service with the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Reflecting on his policing career, the veteran cop said he is pleased to have been given the opportunity to serve and protect.

ACP Butler’s leave will take effective on April 3.

“I am at the threshold of retirement, and it has been a long run within the RBPF,” he said. “For me, 40 years has been a major accomplishment in terms of serving the public and being at the frontline of fighting crime. But my fulfilment is when we got the opportunity of touching lives in positive ways.”

ACP Butler has served at various Family Islands, including Andros, Bimini and Abaco before being assigned to Grand Bahama.

“Everywhere I was asked to serve throughout my career, I took it seriously and always wanted to do the best I could. And wherever I went, I sought to touch lives in a positive way and serve the honour of the badge,” he said.

ACP Butler also served at the Detective Training

School for three years, but the greater part of his career has been with the Drug Enforcement Unit, where he served at various levels in that section.

He recalled that the apprehension of drug traffickers was satisfying, but the major accomplishment was the prevention of drugs and contraband entering the country and being able to preserve life.

Through his years on the force, ACP Butler has seen many changes in the organisation, which has greatly evolved from an archaic form of policing to modern policing, integrating technology in crime-fighting.

“I recall working in a police station with no a/c, not even a typewriter, and certainly a computer was not heard of in those times, but we did it,” he said.

“There have been major changes (since then), and I am so proud of our organisation. Year after year, you saw (new) development and improvement in facilities, knowledge building, and a lot of investment has been made in human resources, and interface with international organisations. It is a tremendous difference from then to now. We are in the age of technology in our organisation,” he added.

When asked about women in leadership roles on the force, ACP

Butler said the RBPF is not gender-driven but rather looks at one’s ability. He believes that there are many “versatile and well qualified” women who can lead the force.

“Women always had leadership roles in the organisation, and I had the opportunity to be touched, tutored, and mentored by many women,” he said.

“The future is truly bright for women leadership and I encourage my female counterparts to keep focused… and I believe in short order, not just GB, but I am sure in short order we may even see a woman at the helm as commissioner of police, not because of gender, but because of ability,” he said.

ACP Butler said he enjoyed his tenure in Grand Bahama.

“Grand Bahama is a wonderful place, and there are many memorable moments. Being able to work with such wonderful staff, I could not exist as a leader without a great support staff.”

However, ACP Butler he said could never forget Hurricane Dorian, which was perhaps the most challenging moment of his entire policing career.

“Almost at the end of my career and y’all give me Hurricane Dorian. We thought we were prepared – but not for Hurricane Dorian,” he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 16, 2020, PAGE 13

TWO men – clad in black hoodies, face masks and white gloves – armed with a handgun and assault rifle were caught on video raiding a store yesterday

Two gunmen one with a rifle - hold up store

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net POLICE are investigating a shooting incident and two armed robberies that occurred over the weekend.

In the first incident, a man was left in hospital after a shooting on Saturday afternoon.

According to police reports, shortly after 5pm on Saturday, a group of people were gathered at a funeral reception at a residence on Bay Lilly Drive in Sea Breeze Estates, when the occupants of a silver coloured vehicle fired gunshots into a crowd, injuring one man before speeding away.

The injured man was taken to hospital where he is listed in critical condition.

No one else was injured during the encounter.

The second incident took place shortly before 2am on Sunday.

Police said a man was on Moore Avenue and Minnie Street yesterday when he was approached by three men – one armed with a firearm – who robbed him of cash, before getting into a black BMW and speeding away.

On Sunday, a video of another armed robbery, believed to have occurred at a local grocery store, made its rounds on social media.

The incident was not

included in the daily crime reports, but The Tribune understands the robbery took place at Budget Food Store in Nassau Village shortly after 7am.

In the 35-second clip, a man dressed all in black can be seen receiving what appears to be a receipt from the cashier, before heading towards the door.

However, as he pushes the glass door to exit, he holds it open for two men who rush into the store.

Once the two men enter the store, the first man lets go of the door and bolts out of the shop.

Another man, who appears to be a shelf stocker also runs out of the store. A woman customer swiftly follows.

The men – clad in black hoodies, face masks and white gloves – were armed with a handgun and assault rifle.

In the security footage, they can be seen pointing their weapons in the direction of the cashier, before making their way to the counter.

No one appeared to be harmed in the incident.

Investigations are ongoing.

Anyone with information that can assist police with their investigations can contact the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991/2, Crime stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.

CHOICES NEVER TASTED SO GOOD.

AUTO CLUB HELPS ALICIA WITH HER HEART SURGERY MEMBERS of the Antique Auto Club of The Bahamas are planning of their 33rd Antique Auto Show & Cook-Out at Arawak Cay from noon until 6.0 on Saturday, March 21. In accordance with policy set several years ago, the proceeds of the club’s’ annual shows will benefit underprivileged children in The Bahamas.

One of the prime beneficiaries this year is the Sir Victor Sassoon Heart Foundation, which assists children with heart disease. The specific recipient that was identified by the Foundation and Dr Jerome Lightbourne is three-year old Alicia Rolle. Alicia has recently undergone successful surgery at Joe DiMaggio Hospital. “We expect to see her and her mother at our show on March 21,” said Freeman Deveaux,

PATIENT Alicia Rolle President of the Club. With the annual show, the club will be raising funds to help cover the cost of the heart surgery. The main way that is done is through the sale of the cook-out tickets, which are $15 for steak or chicken dinners. Mr Freeman said: “Remember, you are not just purchasing a dinner, you are helping to save a child’s life.”

MURRAY FORDE, Director, Antique Club, Alicia Rolle and her mother, Freemen Deveaux, President, Antique Auto Club and RE Barnes, Chairman, Sir Victor Sassoon Heart Foundation

Subway® is a Registered Trademark of Subway IP LLC. © 2020 Subway IP LLC.

The original, official Subway® restaurants!

Locations in Nassau: Cable Beach • Charlotte Street North Marathon Mall – Food Court Shell Airport Service Station Palmdale Shopping Center Shell Old Fort Bay Town Centre Carmichael Road – Shops at Carmichael Plaza East Street South – Independence Shopping Plaza

PAGE 14, Monday, March 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Cornonavirus crisis: Many elements of life across world curtailed to fight outbreak

LEFT: Pope Francis walks to reach a church yesterday’above: the daily disinfection of busses in Bucharest, Romania; below: An army trooper checks the temperature of people on the outskirts of Quezon city, Philippines.

US moves closer to a major shutdown CHICAGO Associated Press OFFICIALS curtailed many elements of American life to fight the coronavirus outbreak yesterday, with health officials recommending that groups of 50 or more don’t get together and a government expert saying a 14-day national shutdown may be needed.

Governors and mayors were closing restaurants, bars, and schools as the nation sank deeper into chaos over the crisis. Travellers returning home from overseas trips were stuck in line for hours at major airports for screenings, causing them to be crammed into just the kind of crowded spaces that public health officials have been urging people to avoid.

In a sign of the impending economic gloom on the horizon, the Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark interest rate to near zero.

President Donald Trump sought to calm a jittery nation by declaring that the government has “tremendous control” over the situation and urging people to stop the panic buying of grocery staples that has depleted the shelves of stores around the country. Gun stores started seeing a similar run on weapons and ammunition as the panic intensified.

As Americans struggled to come to terms with how to change their daily habits, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a dramatic recommendation: Because large events can fuel the spread of the disease, it said

gatherings of 50 people or more should be canceled or postponed throughout the country for the next eight weeks. It added that, at any event, proper precautions should be taken, including making sure people are washing their hands and not getting too close.

But in a sign of the difficulty of striking the right balance, the statement from the CDC also said the recommendation does not apply to “the day to day operation of organizations such as schools, institutes of higher learning, or businesses.”

Even before the warning, parts of the country already look like a ghost town, and others are about to follow as theme parks closed, Florida beaches shooed away spring breakers, Starbucks said it will accept only drive-thru and

takeout orders, and Ohio and Illinois ordered bars and restaurants shuttered.

California’s governor asked the state’s bars and restaurants to close, but didn’t order it. New York City, meanwhile, said eateries could only accept takeout and delivery orders. Mayor Bill de Blasio also ordered nightclubs, movie theaters and other entertainment venues closed.

His decision came after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert, said he would like to see a 14-day national shutdown imposed to prevent the virus’s spread. “I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing,” said Fauci.

CORONAVIRUS VACCINE TRIAL DUE TO START THIS MORNING WASHINGTON Associated Press

THE first participant in a clinical trial for a vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus will receive an experimental dose today, according to a government official. The National

Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattl.. Public health officials say it will take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine.

Testing will begin with 45

young, healthy volunteers with different doses of shots co-developed by NIH and Moderna Inc. There’s no chance participants could get infected from the shots, because they don’t contain the virus itself. The goal is purely to check that the vaccines show no worrisome

side effects, setting the stage for larger tests.

Dozens of research groups around the world are racing to create a vaccine as COVID-19 cases continue to grow. Importantly, they’re pursuing different types of vaccines — shots developed from

new technologies that not only are faster to produce than traditional inoculations but might prove more potent. Some researchers even aim for temporary vaccines, such as shots that might guard people’s health while longer-lasting protection is developed.

SERMONS DELIVERED ONLINE

ATLANTA Associated Press

PASTORS across the United States delivered sermons to empty pews yesterdayas houses of worship adjusted to the reality of the coronavirus pandemic, with the Vatican indicating that the holiest week on its calendar will look vastly different next month.

While many religious institutions around the country took to the internet to stream their services this week – including one megachurch that President Donald Trump tweeted he was tuning in to – some tried to take extra precautions while maintaining a semblance of their Sunday routine amid mounting public anxiety over the outbreak.

Trump, who had declared Sunday a special national day of prayer, said he would watch a livestreamed service by Jentezen Franklin, a Georgia-based pastor and long-standing evangelical ally of the president.

The annual National Day of Prayer is May 7. During his sermon, Franklin urged prayers for China and Iran, areas hit particularly hard by the virus.

BIDEN AND SANDERS TAKE ON PANDEMIC IN TV DEBATE WASHINGTON Associated Press

FORMER Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders sought in yesterday’s Democratic debate to cast themselves as bestpositioned to lead the nation through a global pandemic, uniting in their criticism of President Donald Trump’s response to the fast-moving coronavirus but diverging in how they would confront the spiraling public health and economic crisis.

Biden pledged to deploy the United States military to help with recovery efforts and warned that a federal financial bailout may be necessary to stabilize the

economy. Sanders leaned into the same domestic policy proposals that have dominated his campaign, arguing that the government-run health insurance system he has long championed would allow the US to respond faster to a health crisis.

The coronavirus outbreak has reshaped nearly all aspects of American life. Virus fears have also halted campaign rallies and prompted some states to delay upcoming primaries because of warnings from public health officials against large gatherings.

“This is bigger than any one of us — this calls for a national rallying for one another,” Biden said.

Indeed, the stakes in the race

for the Democratic presidential nomination have shifted dramatically since Biden and Sanders last debated less than three weeks ago — as have the contours of the contest. After a sluggish start to the primary season, Biden has surged to the front of the field, drawing overwhelming support from black voters and consolidating the backing of several more moderate rivals who have dropped out of the race.

The former vice president appeared determined throughout Sunday’s contest to keep his focus on the general election, making direct overtures to Sanders’ loyal supporters and committing for the first time to select a woman

JOE BIDEN, left, and Bernie Sanders greet each other before they participate in a Democratic presidential debate yesterday

as his running mate if he becomes the Democratic nominee. After Biden’s announcement, Sanders said he would “in all likelihood” do the same.

For Sanders, the reality is that his path to the nomination is rapidly shrinking, and he faces the prospect of more stinging defeats in the four states that vote on Tuesday. Still, he appeared determined to draw sharp contrasts with Biden throughout the debate, challenging him aggressively on the Iraq War and free trade deals. He argued that “I have taken on every special interest that’s out there,” adding, “That’s a very different record than Joe’s.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 16, 2020, PAGE 15

BRAGGING JAMAICAN CHARGED WITH OVERSTAYING SPOUSAL PERMIT BY TWO YEARS

30-YEAR-OLD ADMITS PUNCHING FORMER GIRLFRIEND IN THE FACE AFTER ARGUMENT

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A JAMAICAN man was charged in Magistrate’s Court on Friday for overstaying his spousal permit by two years.

Omar Walford, 42, was brought before Senior Magistrate Carolyn VogtEvans just days after a viral video spread of him bragging about being able to get his and his wife cars’ licenced while a Bahamian and another Jamaican was having a hard time doing so.

According to the prosecution, immigration officers went to a complex on Martin Close off Cowpen Road on March 10. Officers knocked on the door and were greeted by a man who opened the door. They identified themselves and asked for entry to check the legal status of the residents. They proceeded to the bedroom where they found the defendant and asked for proof of his legal status in the country. He was

unable to produce any evidence. He was then taken to the Detention Centre where there was a check of the system. It was discovered that his resident spousal permit had expired on January 30, 2018 and was not renewed. An application for permanent residence was cancelled in 2017 because of failure to submit further documents for the process to move forward.

Walford pleaded guilty and Magistrate Vogt-Evans, noting his lack of remorse, further ordered him to pay $3,000 or spend eight months in prison. He would then be handed over to the Department of Immigration for deportation.

She noted that everyone has to pay taxes and those who do not are robbing the system.

When the magistrate asked who could pay his fine, Walford pointed to his wife but she informed the magistrate she did not have the amount needed at court.

OMAR Walford

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

A 30-YEAR-OLD man was charged in Magistrate’s Court on Friday with punching his former girlfriend in the face.

Ravano Lightbourne, an a/c technician at Beat the Heat, appeared before Chief Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans charged with one count of causing harm.

Lightbourne pleaded guilty to the charge and the case was adjourned to today. He was denied bail and remanded in custody.

Lightbourne is accused of unlawfully and intentionally causing harm to Shantell Dean on March 6.

According to the facts read by Sergeant Kendrick Bauld, around 11pm on March 6, Ms Dean was involved in an argument with the accused in the area of Blue Hill Road.

During the disagreement, the accused grabbed Ms Dean’s phone and punched her in her mouth causing injuries.

Sgt Bauld said Ms Dean sought medical attention and decided to report the incident to authorities.

Lightbourne was then cautioned and arrested.

During an interview with police, he admitted to being involved in the incident with Ms Dean. He also told police that he had punched Ms Dean in her face while taking her phone.

During the arraignment, it was revealed that Ms Dean’s injury resulted in $4,390 worth of dental work.

The prosecutor said Ms Dean included her hospital form and medical bills in her complaint because she was seeking compensation from the accused.

When given a chance to speak, Lightbourne told the judge that he was “really, truthfully and honestly sorry” about the incident which was “based on a silly argument.”

He also said he would try “to the best of his ability” to help Ms Dean repair her teeth.

PAGE 16, Monday, March 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

YOUNG MOTORCYCLIST HELD UP AT GUN POINT OFF EASTERN RD BETWEEN 5 and 5:30pm Thursday a young motorcyclist on his way to work was held up at gun point as he turned off the Eastern Road onto Wild Tamarind Drive.

The young man said that as he turned onto Wild Tamarind Drive a black Honda stopped, with the driver indicating that he wanted to speak to him. The cyclist also stopped and got off his

motor cycle. Two men then got out of the Honda, pointed a gun at him, and ordered him not to move.

When the young man saw the gun, he jumped on his motorcycle and sped up the Wild Tamarind Drive hill towards Camperdown Drive. The men got back in the Honda and followed him up and over the hill, forcing him off the road

where he fell off his motorcycle and into the bush on the western side of the road. At that point another car drove up the hill and the Honda sped off. The cyclist believes that it was the sight of the other car that saved his life.

A report was made at the Eastern Road police station. Police said that the area would be patrolled.