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WE HAVE TAKE-OFF

Govt to buy GB airport in deal seen as vital to save ravaged economy

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net GRAND Bahama International Airport will be purchased at a cost of under $1m by the Airport Authority, it was announced yesterday.

Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar told Parliament that while the Authority is purchasing the airport at a price of “one dollar,” the authority will also assume a portion of staff related costs. These costs, he said, were not expected to exceed $1m.

However, Mr D’Aguilar told Members of Parliament a new airport will cost between $40m and $50m to

be constructed.

Government will seek to enter into a public private partnership to assist in the rebuilding effort, Mr D’Aguilar said.

His announcement was welcomed by government MPs, but was met with criticism by former Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin.

Not only did the Englerston MP demand that details of the impending purchase be laid on the table of the House of Assembly, but she said the minister should have revealed what motivated owners, Hutchinson Whampoa, to agree to sell the facility.

SEE PAGE THREE

‘DON’T WANT OIL DRILLING - NOW’S TIME TO PROVE IT’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ENVIRONMENTALISTS yesterday challenged the Minnis administration to make good on its pledge to bar oil drilling after the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) revealed it will seek to renew its four licences.

Activists said they plan “to coerce the Government as much as possible” to reject the oil explorer’s bid for a three-year renewal that would commit it to drilling another exploratory

well within The Bahamas’ territorial waters during that period.

Besides calling on the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to live up to their publicly professed opposition to oil exploration, the environmental groups argued it would be inappropriate to approve BPC’s application until their Judicial Review action challenging the permits it received for its first Perseverance One exploratory is ruled upon by the Supreme Court.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

DIPLOMA-TIC US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Usha Pitts presents Father Shazz Turnquest with a certificate of completion as part of a link-up between embassy officials and St John’s College yesterday to boost renewable energy. See the full story on page two. Photo: Racardo Thomas

SUSPECT HELD OVER PM REVEALS DETAILS EXPOSURE INCIDENT ON HOUSING SCHEME

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

POLICE have arrested a man who is suspected of exposing himself to a young girl while she was on her way to school yesterday morning.

News of the incident made its rounds on social media yesterday after a male witness, who identified himself as Kent Bazard, released a five-minute-long

voice note, detailing a disturbing account of what he saw transpire shortly after 8 o’clock yesterday morning.

According to Dr Bazard, a female student of Palmdale Primary was walking to school when she was approached by a man who exposed his genitalia to her. Dr Bazard said she appeared to be seven years old and was left shaken after the experience.

SEE PAGE TWO

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis revealed that a planned housing programme geared towards young professionals will include certain exemptions such as waived customs duty on building materials and appliances and real property tax exemption for up to two years after the homes have been constructed.

He gave notice in the House of Assembly last night that a resolution to develop an affordable “upscale” community for young people in the western area of New Providence will be debated at the next sitting of the House. The government is determined “to make it a priority to make land more accessible and affordable to young Bahamians,” the resolution says.

SEE PAGE FOUR

FAMILY DISMISSES NURSE’S ‘VACCINE’ DEATH FRONT PORCH

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net RELATIVES of Nurse Marsha McQueen have denied social media claims that she died shortly after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

On Tuesday, local website Bahamas Press posted the claims along with a photo of Nurse McQueen, alleging she died of a heart

NURSE MARSHA MCQUEEN attack and was a recipient of the vaccine. The website also posted the story on its social media pages.

While trying to cope with her sister’s sudden passing, Maude Smith decided to put an end to the circulating rumours of her sister’s death.

She said: “Based on everything that we know, she has not taken the vaccine shot,” she said. “She did not have the vaccine. Nothing like that. We don’t know if she had a heart attack like they say, but as it is now, SEE PAGE FOUR

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

TAKE THE VACCINE BECAUSE THIS CRISIS IS FAR FROM OVER

PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Thursday, March 25, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

ENERGY THE KEY TO EMBASSY LINK

FROM left, Youth Consultant Sandena Neely, CEO and founder of Primo Energy Ned McMahon, US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Usha Pitts, director of Anglican Schools Italia Davies, St John’s College principal Junann Lewis, Father Shazz Turnquest, and Under Secretary Montez Williams.

Photo: Racardo Thomas US EMBASSY officials delivered innovative renewable energy technology to St John’s College yesterday.

US Chargé d’Affaires Usha Pitts and Primo Energy CEO Ned McMahon participated in a handover ceremony at the school where Primo Energy executives donated an EnergiTree and an EnergiSeedling.

The US Embassy and Primo Energy have also

partnered with St John’s College to launch The Bahamas’ first EnergiSeedling programme, which uses a working model of the EnergiTree — and accompanying curriculum — to promote STEM education for third to 12th grade students.

The EnergiTree and EnergiSeedling are 100 percent hybrid renewable energy platforms for power, lighting, device charging, WIFI, and more.

These innovative renewable energy models are commonly used in parks, university campuses and for emergency power

during disaster relief efforts. In addition, Primo Energy created an accompanying EnergiSeedling programme, an innovative classroom learning resource which provides real renewable power, accompanied by a project-based curriculum.

Primo Energy is an American, California-based renewable energy company and is seeking to build partnerships with local businesses, schools, environmentalists and others to provide renewable energy technology solutions to stakeholders throughout The Bahamas.

SUSPECT HELD OVER EXPOSURE INCIDENT from page one “At approximately 8.35 (Wednesday) morning, I witnessed a young male attempting to assault a female primary school student of Palmdale Primary as she was walking to school. She’s approximately seven years old. The gentleman appeared to be a vagrant,” he said.

“Because I was pulling up behind him, I first assumed he was walking her to school, but as I got closer, I noticed that his pants were down. This is just past Bellagio plaza… where the Department of Statistics is.

He had his pants down and no underwear on — at first, I thought he was fixing his clothes.

“When I got slightly past him… I noticed his genitalia was out and he had a full erection, I work in the medical field and I’m a male too, so I know...”

He said the man was trying to put his arm around the child, who was trying to get away from him.

After watching the disturbing scene, Dr Bazard said he and other motorists immediately took action, but were unsuccessful in their attempts to capture the assailant.

“I jumped out (of my car) and as I jumped out the person behind me… he also jumped out and by the time I got to the guy, another (person) jumped out, but the guy ran into the street, the third car that stopped gave chase on foot,” he said.

“I grabbed the girl and I started to walk her towards the school. She was shaking but seemed to be okay.

I also jumped in my car and the male ran towards the Rubis gas station on Mackey and Madeira. He ran through the gas station and I jumped into my car and the other gentleman who was chasing him on foot came back to his car and we both got into our vehicles and the guy ran through Hill Street. . .He cut through some properties and we circled for a few moments and we were unable to find him.”

Describing the suspect, Dr Bazard said he was dark-skinned, of medium build and had a height of around 5’6” to 5’9”. He said he alerted police.

When contacted by The Tribune yesterday, a police spokesman said officers have a man in custody in connection with the incident, but gave no additional details.

THE TRIBUNE

We have take-off

from page one

Mrs Hanna Martin further hit out at foreign companies who have received concessions but have not lived up to their obligations.

“After the passage of Hurricane Dorian, on September 1, 2020, Hutchinson expressed that they had had enough of operating that airport and simply wanted to sell it and be done with it,” Mr D’Aguilar said as mover of the Airport Authority Amendment Bill, 2021.

“Intense discussions ensued between the government and Hutchinson, resulting in a heads of terms which lays out the terms under which the government will purchase, and the Freeport Harbour Company will sell, the Grand Bahama International Airport.

“The Bahamian taxpayer and especially the taxpayers in Grand Bahama want to know the amount that their government has agreed to pay for that airport. Well, the purchase price is one dollar. One dollar plus the assumption of a portion of staff related costs which should not exceed one

million dollars.”

He continued: “So, the Airport Authority is purchasing almost 2,500 acres of land, an 11,000-foot-long runway that was recently resurfaced, taxiways, ramps, etc, all for under a million dollars.

“Once the purchase of the Grand Bahama International Airport has been completed, the lawyers are currently doing the title searches, the relationship between a Bahamas government owned asset and the Port Authority being finalised, the asset will be transferred to the Airport Authority who will create a special purpose vehicle to operate and redevelop the airport, very similar to what was set up at the Lynden Pindling International Airport.

“So, in Nassau, the airport is owned by the Airport Authority, a 100 percent government owned entity, and redeveloped and now managed by NAD, the Nassau Airport Development Company another 100 percent government owned entity.

“Once the transaction in Freeport is completed, the airport will be owned by the Airport Authority and redeveloped and managed

by a SPV, similar in construct and purpose to NAD. That SPV will be charged with redeveloping, rebuilding, and making a new airport in Freeport far more resilient against significant weather events, such as, hurricanes.”

He added: “You look at the finances of the country and you wonder to yourself where we gonna get this $40m to $50m to bring this critical airport in Grand Bahama. This is a major issue. The people of Grand Bahama are looking for a new airport. The finances of the government are extremely challenged as the pandemic and hurricane have created these large deficits which we all agree are unsustainable.”

Following the minister’s contribution to the amendment, Mrs Hanna Martin said Bahamians deserved to know the details of the Heads of Agreement.

The MP said the debt burden was expected to rise with the purchase of the airport, adding no more than one dollar should be paid to acquire it.

Mrs Hanna Martin said: “I heard the minister speak about a Heads of Agreement or something. Why he didn’t lay it? Why hasn’t

this minister laid the Heads of Agreement for this airport? Why hasn’t he done it?

“He want(s) (to) tell you it’s a dollar because he want(s) to send you down that road. But there is another road and we would like to know what has been agreed with Hutchinson Whampoa with this administration for the sale of that airport for a dollar.

“This government has not disclosed to the Bahamian people what they have agreed in relation to that airport. When Hutchinson came to The Bahamas in 1995 its principle objective was the Freeport Harbour, a strategic addition to its multi-million dollar global shipping company. But because The Bahamas government wanted other things they got incredible concessions, which included that airport and the hotel.

“The Freeport international airport and the construction of the Our Lucaya hotel were made part of the deal to obtain the prize. What you have allowed, you have allowed a foreign investor to take all the cream and leave us with the burden in this country and I believe there is even more burden because you’ve

Thursday, March 25, 2021, PAGE 3

GLENYS Hanna Martin in Parliament yesterday.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff not laid that Heads of Agreement in this Parliament.

“We do not know what you have agreed to further burden the Bahamian people. Grand Bahama is worse off than it was in 1995. Once the acquisition of the Freeport international airport is passed in the Parliament, Hutchinson would have successfully offloaded/dumped two economically challenging

entities expected to grow and prosper under the hands of the giant. Hutchinson wanted out and waited for the moment,” she said.

She further pointed to the $65m sale of the Grand Lucayan Hotel, saying the government has had to spend millions of dollars in operational costs and severance pay since purchasing the hotel in 2018.

HANNA MARTIN CRITICISES AG VENDOR PROCESS ‘UNSATISFACTORY’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

ENGLERSTON MP Glenys Hanna Martin has described recent comments

by Attorney General Carl Bethel regarding arrests of members of the Democratic National Alliance earlier this week as “ill advised”.

On Tuesday, Mr Bethel told reporters outside Cabinet he was disturbed by the criticism surrounding the matter.

At Parliament yesterday, the MP said she stood in solidarity with the DNA, a move she said was admittedly “unusual”. She also expressed support for Bahamas Department of Correctional Services officers who are upset over a laundry list of grievances.

They protested at the Ministry of National Security last week.

Mrs Hanna Martin said: “I am going to do something unusual today, I am going to stand with the members of the DNA today because I heard the dialogue of the Attorney General who I was surprised because the Commissioner says he’s still investigating.

“I heard some comments from the Attorney General, which I thought might have been ill advised having regard to his position in the

judicial and legal system, but I heard this talk about how those individuals broke the law and they went into the square and all of this thing.”

She drew attention to a “break away” group that was a part of the 2017 We March protest, suggesting Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, then in opposition, and sitting members of Parliament were part of the group.

The group was not arrested, she said.

“I stand in solidarity with the members of DNA,” she said, adding there had been too much hypocrisy among politicians and officials.

Earlier this week, Mr Bethel said he was surprised by what happened to the DNA members but was disturbed by the criticism surrounding the matter.

“I was as surprised as anybody else in The Bahamas by the events that occurred yesterday,” he said on Tuesday. “It is though disturbing to me - the suggestion that is implicit in a lot of the criticism - that there is a class of Bahamians, namely the political class, who are immune to the rule of the law.

“We understand that there is a distinction between a political action and crime, no question of that, but there may be instances - as has been

shown elsewhere quite recently - where political action may cause alarm.

The appropriate agency to determine that is the police by an appropriate investigation.

“I have no personal view as to whether a line was crossed, that is not my job, nor do I encourage anybody to speculate on the matter. The appropriate constitutional authority to determine whether a law was broken is the police.

They are the investigating arm of the state. Once they have made their determination, they will make that to a constitutionally independent public prosecutor, the director of public prosecutions,” Mr Bethel said.

Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle has asserted that on March 3, members of the DNA had “pushed on officers” in an attempt to gain entry to the House of Assembly. Officials have said the group did not have a permit for their March 3 protest.

On the same day, police allege members of the DNA had also unlawfully assembled at Parliament Square, but the Commissioner has said he made the decision to pursue the issue later instead of arresting the members on site or shortly thereafter.

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Department of Transformation and Digitisation’s vendor management assessment from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 has been given a rating of “unsatisfactory” by the Office of the Auditor General.

“Overall, we noted that there is a lack of governance surrounding the vendor and contract management process,” the OAG said in an audit tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday.

During their review, auditors made ten major findings. Their report says management were unable to provide documents related to policies and procedures for vendor selection.

“There is a risk that the lack of accessible and inadequate policies may result in the vendor selection process not being conducted in accordance with the written policies,” the report said.

“This can result in inappropriate vendors being selected to supply goods or services without appropriate documentation and approvals.”

Auditors also noted contracts were not reviewed on a regular basis. “Management was unable to accurately track when payments were due in a accordance with contracts,” the report said.

“This resulted in late fees being incurred. In one instance, there were six transactions which took place in 2017/2018 but were included in the 2018/2019 payment listing. These late fee payments related to two vendors in the amount of $63,357.94.”

Auditors said though they requested 25 contracts, only three were provided.

“It was noted as the contract owners moved from various ministries to DTaD, they were not appropriately handed over. We received some business-related information for other vendors, however, their contracts were not accessible at the time of review,” the report says.

Of contracts provided, only one met requirements.

Auditors noted risk funds may be needlessly disbursed if contracts are not maintained. They further found the department does not have a process

to monitor vendor performance and service management to ensure contracts are being followed.

“This may result in DTaD paying for services which have not been provided.

Further, this may result in vendors providing a quality of service that is not aligned with DTaD’s goals and objectives,”the report said.

When auditors requested supporting documents for 50 transactions, they were provided with only seven.

“When supporting documentation is not kept there is no audit trail to be followed to verify the validity and appropriateness of transactions,” the report says.

Auditors also found various transactions did not have appropriate approval.

Auditors also found that there was an inconsistent approach to the invoice entry and recording process, causing inconsistent or missing invoice details.

According to the report, a finance officer was sent to the department in 2019 to address issues relating to payments, procurement and vendor management training.

PAGE 4, Thursday, March 25, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Family Islands await TOTAL CASES TOTAL DEATHS vaccination rollout 8,953 188

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH no details have been provided yet on the vaccination rollout for the Family Islands, several island administrators yesterday expressed confidence in their island’s readiness to administer the Oxford-AstraZeneca once doses arrive.

Dierdre Fox, assistant administrator for Bimini, said health officials there have already started looking at potential vaccination sites.

“They haven’t narrowed them down as yet but they’re considering the Gateway gymnasium and the BUB lodge hall and some of the churches halls so it could be spread out instead of in one area,” she told the Tribune.

“We have health teams coming from New Providence to assist with the rollout.”

The island is home to just under 3,000 people, according to Ms Fox. As of yesterday, there were 116 cases confirmed for Bimini and Cat Cay since the start of the pandemic.

She said: “The persons on Bimini (have been) listening to the media and the prime minister’s report.

They’re enquiring as to where they can take it when it does get here.”

North and Central Abaco Administrator Terrece Bootle-Laing said she is still waiting to receive word from health officials concerning the island’s vaccination plan. The island’s curfew restrictions were recently tightened after health officials reported an uptick in cases there. It’s total COVID count now stands at 301 after three new cases were confirmed on Tuesday.

“We anticipate that at some point we will get a clearer idea on when the Family Islands will be slated for it. There’s a number of persons who are interested and want to take it when it becomes available but as it stands now, we are in standby mode,” she said.

Asked if residents on the Abaco cays will be able to get vaccinated in their respective communities, she replied: “They do have the mechanisms in place to facilitate because we have medical staff in all of these areas or satellite clinics so they do have the network in place that they can execute.”

Exuma administrator, Debra Moxey-Rolle also could not definitively say which sites will be used to carry out vaccination exercises on the island but suggested that one could be the Exuma healthcare centre.

She said: “We have a wonderful facility at the Exuma Healthcare Centre and we also have a few private doctors on the island, and I don’t see any issues there.”

She also said many Exuma residents have been educating themselves on the vaccination process ahead of its arrival.

“The overall response is the residents (are) arming themselves with the information available and that we have some people who are prepared to take it but it’s a personal decision being made and I think everyone is weighing it based on their person health decision and it looks to me that some have made the decision that they will stay home but I think it’s primarily personal decisions being made.”

Exuma has recorded 122 COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, in Inagua, there is a sense of vaccine hesitancy among locals there.

The island’s administrator, Marlon Leary told The Tribune: “The few people who I spoke to, there is some scepticism about the (vaccine). There are some people concerned about the side effects.”

Mr Leary said he has not yet heard from health officials concerning the island’s vaccination plan. However,

he is confident that the island will be prepared whenever the jabs land on Inagua.

“We have one health care facility and that’s the local clinic and whenever the health professionals get to do their due diligence, we will review all the information and some.

Determinations will be made on which sites will be used etc,” he said.

“But, whenever, it arrives, we will be ready and that’s the confidence I have in my healthcare team here and all my departments.”

The Bahamas began vaccinating its citizens against COVID-19 last week, prioritising healthcare workers, residents and staff of eldercare homes, people age 60 and older and those in the uniformed branches, etc.

The nation’s vaccination campaign was officially rolled out in New Providence last Wednesday and in Grand Bahama on Monday.

Deputy chair of the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee Ed Fields has said the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines on the Family Islands will be dependent on several factors, including supply.

“As the supply is limited, (it will be) based on the impact COVID is having on the respective islands and

NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES TUESDAY 18 CASES NEW PROVIDENCE GRAND BAHAMA ABACO ELEUTHERA

10 4 3 1

TOTAL TESTS

HOSPITALISED

73,979

31

CASES IN ICU

1

RECOVERED

7,779

18 NEW COVID-19 CASES CONFIRMED EIGHTEEN new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Tuesday.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, ten of the cases are in New Providence, four are in Grand Bahama, three are in Abaco while there is one new case in Eleuthera.

The country now has 8,953 confirmed coronavirus cases, 932 of which are active.

Thirty-one people are currently in hospital with the disease. as supplies allow,” he said.

Officials from the Pan American Health Organisation said on Tuesday that regional member states, including The Bahamas, can expect to receive their COVAX generated vaccines by the end of this week. The Bahamas is set

to receive 33,600 doses out of 100,800 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the agency purchased by the government through PAHO’s COVAX facility.

The remainder of the vaccines are expected to arrive in May.

PM REVEALS DETAILS ON HOUSING SCHEME from page one

The proposed development will allow people between the ages of 18 and 45 to buy 95 x100 feet lots for $50,000.

The resolution says the government will put in place all the necessary infrastructure so that the lots will be worth $150,000 once the infrastructure is installed.

The first area identified for the plan is 83 acres of land in the vicinity of the Baha Mar property.

More specifically, it includes “all that piece parcel or lot of treasury land containing 83 acres or thereabouts subject to survey located on the

northern side of John F Kennedy Drive and the junction of Prospect Ridge Road in the western district of the island of New Providence,” the resolution says.

“The said parcel of land is bounded on the north partly by Golf Course Heights, Dingoe Limited and private lands, bounded on the east partly by John F Kennedy Drive, partly by Crown land and partly by government land, bounded on the west by Prospect Ridge road.”

The community, according to the resolution, will include walking paths, two parks, a community centre and a swimming pool. It will also be eco-friendly, “with minimal change to

the existing topography of the land.”

As part of the deal, exemptions will be granted.

Custom duties will be waived on building materials and appliances and real property tax will be exempted for up to two years after the homes are constructed.

The resolution says the homes will need to be completed within two years of purchase to ensure the development is completed in a timely manner.

Dr Minnis placed the land plan in the context of other pledges his administration has made, saying it has expanded pre-school and opportunities for free tertiary education while trying to make the

“Bahamian dream” a reality for residents.

“Part two of the Bahamian dream is to provide an opportunity for every Bahamian to own land and build their home,” he said.

“Young professionals have always been sort of ignored or put on the sidelines, so we wanted to identify lands throughout The Bahamas for our young professionals and our young people.”

Dr Minnis said 150 lots will be available during the first development, 40 percent of which will be multi-family lots and 60 percent of which will be for single families.

“The equity is such a vast amount that individuals would not have to come up with any down-payment to

construct their homes,” Dr Minnis said.

He added that for $1,000, people will be able to buy one of up to ten architectural design models.

He said to ensure fair play, a committee will be established to set rules and determine who will get the lots.

“We will introduce ordinance and restrictive covenants that you cannot repair cars in given areas,” he said.

Dr Minnis said flipping will not be allowed and that the government will be given the “right of first refusal” if a homeowner wants to sell his or her property.

“In other words, if you want to sell (it), government

is given the first offer and government can purchase it at a slight increase after which it will be placed back in the pool for individuals to purchase,” he said.

He promised that more benefits of the plan will be discussed during the debate in April.

The passing of the resolution is needed to fulfil the requirements of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act. Dr Minnis said a portion of nearby land is reserved for an official residence for the prime minister.

“I have no intention of building any or moving so I don’t want the people to think I am building a residence for myself,” he said.

FAMILY DISMISSES NURSE’S ‘VACCINE’ DEATH

from page one

we are still waiting on the autopsy to state what she died from or how she died.

“No one from our family was in contact with (the website). We did not give them that information. It would only be me, her daughter or her son who would be giving out information. When we saw it, we were surprised to even see they even had the thing to say she died.”

Nurse McQueen, until the time of her death, owned Coastline Community Care Nursing Home.

She was 57-years-old with underlying health issues.

According to her sister, she is not known to have heart issues as reported on the website and social media.

“What they did is take a picture that my aunt uploaded to Facebook to say her niece passed and rest in peace,” Ms Smith continued. “That’s all they said. That is the picture that they used with the story.

“They did not contact the family at all. So who gave them that information, I really do not know. She didn’t have any heart problems as they said. She had little blood pressure issues because she has a little bit of weight on her. She always said she was healthy, but we knew she had blood pressure issues and that’s it. Nothing else.”

Nurse McQueen’s career in healthcare took her to Princess Margaret Hospital and Doctors Hospital, the latter of which was her last place of employment

before she opened the nursing home in 2003.

She died at 3.30am on Saturday in her home.

“She had no ailments prior to that,” Ms Smith recalled of her sister. “She went to the nursing home on Friday and came home.

No one said she had any issues. Her death was all very shocking. Her daughter was there and watched her. She gave her mother CPR before she died.

“She called 911 and the ambulance came, but by the time they arrived my sister had died. Then they called us.

They woke me up at 3’clock in the morning to tell me my sister was dead. That was not easy. That was a shock, especially after having just spoken to her that week and nothing was wrong with her.”

Ms Smith is disheartened at the “mischief” circulating that insinuates her sister died from adverse effects of taking the COVID-19 vaccine now available in The Bahamas.

“It is so sad when people run with stories that are not true,” Ms Smith said. “We are still waiting to find out exactly what she died from.

I just need the rumours to stop. This is just all about using someone to say, ‘don’t take the vaccine.’ To say, ‘oh this nurse took it and she died.’

“That is not true. They are just running on with something that they know nothing about. People just like rumours.”

Nurse McQueen is survived by two children – one son and one daughter.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 25, 2021, PAGE 5

Lighthouse Point reopens today

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net LIGHTHOUSE Point at the Grand Lucayan resort will reopen its doors today for the first time after one year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with an initial staff complement of nearly 40 people.

Michael Scott, chairman of the hotel’s board, met the 37 new hotel staff on Wednesday ahead of the anticipated opening of the 197-room Lighthouse Pointe hotel.

The convention centre, two restaurants, and the golf course, and other related amenities, such as the Senses Spa, will be operational for guests.

This move will reboot the island’s tourism sector and its beleaguered economy that was struck by two crises and suffered significantly as a result of Hurricane Dorian and the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Scott spoke briefly with the media on Grand Bahama, revealing that $1 million per month was being spent to maintain the hotel, which has been closed since last March.

“As chairman of board, the (special purpose) vehicle and the holding company for this hotel and its related and outlying amenities, I am pleased to state at last, after having threatened to do it before, we will be reopening our doors tomorrow, with a view to not allowing this hotel property to languish

THE GRAND Lucayan resort - where the Lighthouse Point hotel will reopen today. any further,” he said.

“I was the last person to want to shut it down when we got caught with the pandemic. But now that we are coming out of it, we are pleased to open and get economic activity started again in the Port Lucaya area which, you all know, is the nucleus of tourism in Grand Bahama island.”

According to Mr Scott, they have received some early bookings at the hotel.

“We are ready to go now.

We are starting with 37 employees, and hopefully in the next couple of days that will grow to 50 to 60,” he stated.

“We got some early bookings; they are modest, but we expect once word gets out and we have done some aggressive marketing and promotions, that bookings will pick up.”

He noted that there have been requests and expression of interest in using the facilities, including the convention centre.

“We expect that in April we will be well on our way,” he said. “So, I am here for the purpose of chairing a board meeting, but also to meet our newly engaged staff, and in a very brief and informal way set the charge for what the board expects in terms of them taking on work at the hotel.

“I said to them, as a private sector person, my primary interest is to…hire the best that we can get and hire people that are experienced and competent in various sectors and components that make up the hotel industry.”

Mr Scott indicated that they are not interested in “legacy employees.” He

GROUP RECOGNISED FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING FIGHT A LOCAL non-profit, Our Sanctuary, has joined an international group of anti-human trafficking organisations by being named to the Global Modern Slavery Directory.

Our Sanctuary is a Bahamian nonprofit, that advocates for survivors of sexual abuse, exploitation and human trafficking in The Bahamas and the region at large.

According to a press release, the NGO is working throughout The Bahamas to make sure the sexual violence is neither tolerated nor ignored, where survivors are provided the recourses needed to feel protected, as well as protecting vulnerable children and adults from sexual explanation.

McCall Philippe, Our Sanctuary’s executive director, said the news brings tremendous validity to the group, which advocates for and supports victims of sexual abuse and trafficking.

The Global Modern Slavery Directory is a publicly searchable database of over

MCCALL PHILIPPE 2,900 organisations and hotlines working on human trafficking and forced labour around the world.

“We have only scratched the surface in our country when it comes to bringing awareness that sexual abuse and human trafficking are an every day, every minute, every second occurrence in The Bahamas,” said Ms Philippe. “We want survivors or potential victims to have the tools to combat sexual abuse, sex trafficking and other forms of modern slavery in our islands.

“Sex trafficking is a $150 billion-a-year criminal industry. By joining the Global Directory we make sure we are identifying and

supporting survivors in our community, who have freed themselves from this nightmare. By collaborating and coordinating between organisations, community leaders, business owners, and government agencies is key.”

The directory currently lists more than 600 organisations in the United States, and another 2,300 around the world. It is the most comprehensive database of modern slavery organisations ever compiled for the public, with more than 190 countries represented.

The directory is managed by Polaris, based in Washington, DC. Being a member of such directory will facilitate Our Sanctuary to collaborate with anti-human trafficking agencies internationally to better connect victims of trafficking and at-risk persons to the help they need, Ms Philippe said.

The Global Directory can and is expected to be accessed and utilised by members of the public worldwide.

said that they do not intend to enter into any union agreements during “the holding phase.”

“We have no interest in legacy employees, we are not interested in you if you come to look for a cushy job or come here to do nothing.

“I expect people to work the same way I work, which is to be motivated, confident, willing, and enthusiastic when we look at bringing people to the hotel.”

When asked about bringing on former staff, he said: “Well, no; we are doing it on a merit basis, on a one-onone basis. I had my clashes with the former unions. I want to make this clear, we have no agreements with any of these unions, whether it is a management staff union or line staff.

We have no agreements

and we do not intend to enter into any agreements because ultimately the goal is to sell this hotel to either Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, through its investment entity, or some other qualified buyer if that does not work out, although I am sure it will, but in the event that it doesn’t we have a plan B, C and so forth.

“But when that time comes and that happy day arrives there will then be proper negotiations between whoever becomes the new owner or proprietors of the hotel and the relevant unions.”

He further said: “But there are no sacred cows, there are no persons with vested interest. Me personally, I just want to get the best, that’s my sole hiring criterion.”

Asked about how long

the holding phase will go on, Mr Scott said it is hoped that within the next month or two months they expect the deal to conclude. This week, Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar said the sale of the hotel was on the cusp of a conclusion.

In terms of safety amid the pandemic, Mr Scott said in addition to standard protocols, the hotel wants employees to get vaccinated.

“The other point I made to our new staff this morning is that we are now in a position to start vaccinating persons in earnest, and the charge I gave them is that everyone needs to get vaccinated.

“We have a country that is 80 percent dependent on tourism for the time being and tourism-related ventures. We cannot safely do that for ourselves and incoming guests wherever we are in the Bahamas unless we are vaccinated. It is important that everyone who is offered the vaccine gets vaccinated as soon possible. As soon as your turn comes, I‘ve said to them, please get vaccinated.

“We need to reach herd immunity,” he said, adding he was vaccinated a week ago.

Mr Scott also said the monthly bill to keep the hotel in good condition is about one million dollars.

“We are paying $1m a month just to keep this place in good operating condition and 40 percent of that, $400,000, is just to keep the lights on.”

PAGE 6, Thursday, March 25, 2021

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$1 for an airport - but it’s no bargain YOU can’t even get a jitney ride for a dollar these days – but that’s how much is being paid to buy Grand Bahama International Airport.

Of course, whenever something is sold for a dollar, you know there’s a much bigger price tag waiting – and in the case of the airport, it’s the hefty bill to build a new airport. That will cost between $40m and $50m. That $1 will be paid to Hutchinson Whampoa – and there were rightfully questions raised over Hutchinson yesterday.

Glenys Hanna Martin MP put it bluntly, wanting to know what motivated Hutchinson to sell the facility, and criticising foreign companies who get concessions but don’t live up to their obligations.

Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said: “After the passage of Hurricane Dorian… Hutchinson expressed that they had had enough of operating that airport and simply wanted to sell it and be done with it.”

It gets worse. Not only did they want to sell it and be done with it – they also collected the insurance payout from the damage from Hurricane Dorian and kept it in their pockets rather than finance restoration. That could be as much as $25m, although the exact sum has not been verified.

They’ve kept the money and sold off an airport ripped apart by one of the most devastating hurricanes ever to hit The Bahamas without paying for the repairs after getting the payout.

Add to that the cost of reimbursing Hutchinson for half the cost of payments to employees, and that $1 isn’t looking such a bargain.

One source told Tribune Business that Hutchinson and the Grand Bahama Port Authority have effectively been allowed to abandon their developmental obligations.

It sounds like they’ve got exactly what they wanted. Have we got what we wanted?

Mrs Hanna Martin wasn’t going to let the matter go so quickly, pointing out that we haven’t seen the Heads of Agreement, and saying Mr D’Aguilar “wants to tell you it’s a dollar because he wants to send you down that road. But there is another road and we would like to know what has been agreed with Hutchinson Whampoa with this administration for the sale of that airport for a dollar”.

She pointed out that when Hutchinson came to The Bahamas, it wanted Freeport Harbour, but the deal ended up including the airport and the Our Lucaya hotel. She said: “What you have allowed, you have allowed a foreign investor to take all the cream and leave us with the burden.”

It certainly doesn’t look like a great deal – and if it is, then let’s see that Heads of Agreement. Let’s see the terms of the deal in black and white.

Vaccine misinformation

Let’s talk about fake news.

On our front page today, a grieving family have spoken out to deny that Nurse Marsha McQueen died shortly after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

The reason they did so was because of Bahamas Press, a website that is so often the very definition of fake news.

It ran a story claiming that Nurse McQueen died after a massive heart attack and said she was one of the first to receive the vaccine.

Not so, say the family, who say that she didn’t take the vaccine shot, and they do not know if her death was caused by a heart attack as they wait for the autopsy.

No one from the family was in touch with Bahamas Press, and no one gave them any information.

The sister of Nurse McQueen yesterday hit out at the “mischief” suggesting a connection between the death and the vaccine.

She said: “I just need the rumours to stop. This is just all about using someone to say ‘don’t take the vaccine’. To say ‘oh this nurse took it and she died’.”

That’s exactly what is happening.

Bahamas Press is using a grieving family to push doubts over the vaccine. They don’t care about Nurse McQueen. They don’t care about her family.

At a time when the government is trying to encourage people to take the vaccine, this insidious action is seeking to undermine public confidence. It’s a lie. It has no basis in fact, in science or in decency.

Of course, Bahamas Press doesn’t care – it doesn’t even have a door you can go and knock on to complain. If you have an issue with a story written by The Tribune, you know where we are. Our address is at the top of this page. Bahamas Press doesn’t even have a phone number on its website. It can vanish into the night to avoid being held accountable. Its owners aren’t even publicly known, though it has been suggested they have connections to certain political figures.

The emergency powers brought in under COVID-19 made it an offence to spread misinformation if one knows or can be reasonably expected to know the information is false.

Despite the denial of a connection with the vaccine, Bahamas Press still has the story up, it is still spreading misinformation. We suggest that the law deals with them.

What’s more dangerous - about 30 members of a political party walking up the street who aren’t going to get elected or a website which everyone knows promotes one party spreading a scare story questioning the safety of a COVID vaccine?

Path to dictatorship EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE leaders of this country are heading in a very dangerous direction. Before World War 11 Germany had a weak leadership and Hitler was able to take control. What followed ended with worldwide destruction.

In the Bahamas, our democratic system is coming under great pressure and unless we are careful, it will be replaced by a dictatorship.

Our laws are obeyed only when it is in our interest to do so. I will give you a couple of examples: 1) The Public disclosure act was designed to ensure that those who entered public life must disclose their financials each year, this has not been done for years.

There is a penalty for those who fail to disclose, but this has not been enforced.

2) There is a provision in our constitution, which says that the government cannot acquire private property

for a public purpose unless the owner is adequately compensated.

In both of these cases, the Prime Minister of the country is responsible for ensuring that these laws are enforced.

He has failed to do so.

After the 2017 General Elections several PLPs were charged with several fraud related matters. Among them was Kendred Dorsett – for disclosure purposes, Mr Dorsett is my godchild.

July 13th, 2017 he was arrested and carried before the court with chains around his legs after being charged, he was taken back to the police station where he was held. While being held he asked to use the bathroom, but was told he could not.

You can imagine how embarrassing this must have been.

On the July 14th, 2017, he was granted bail after a relative provided a document for property to secure the bond.

This relative cannot dispose of this property while this

matter is pending even if there is a need to do so.

Mr Dorsett, who is an attorney, cannot practice in his profession to provide for his family.

We are beginning the campaign for the next general election and there is no indication as to when this matter will be dealt with. Justice delayed is justice denied.

I would like to ask the Hon AD Hanna and Sir Arthur Foulkes who fought along with me and others in the 1950s and 1960s if this is the kind of freedom we were hoping to achieve? Did they expect it to become dictatorships like Venezuela in South America, Myanmar in Asia or countries in Northern Europe?

You may think we have an incompetent authority, but what we have is a dictator and a weak opposition.

A LOFTUS ROKER Nassau, March 24, 2021.

Unlawful assembly EDITOR, The Tribune.

PLEASE permit me to offer a few comments with respect to the offence referred to in The Bahamas Penal Code as “Unlawful Assembly” as well as offer a brief commentary on The Minister of National Security and The Attorney General’s protestation on public assertions/suggestion that the detention of members of The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) by the police was politically motivated.

Before I do, however, let me say at the outset that as much as I detest the need for an individual or group to seek the police permission to peacefully assemble, I am of the view, and perhaps to the disagreement of many, that the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) ought to have requested permission to assemble as they did.

And I only hold this view because it’s the law.

Notwithstanding the above comments, I am also of the view that the police could have exercised more judicious discretion and dealt with this matter differently, without being accused of compromising or avoiding its duty to enforce the laws no matter ones station in society.

If and when there is an obvious breach of the law, as the commissioner has alluded (pushing against officers), then police ought to act swiftly in its enforcement.

I will say nothing further on that matter as it is still under active investigation – so we are told.

I now turn my attention to the relevant provision in the penal code which speaks to the offence of “unlawful assembly”.

The relevant portion of the statute reads in part: “An unlawful assembly is an assembly of three or more persons, who, with intent to carry out any common purpose, assemble in such a manner, or so conduct themselves when assembled, as to cause persons in the neighbourhood of such assembly to fear, on reasonable grounds, that the persons so assembled will disturb the peace tumultuously, or will, by such assembly, needlessly and without any reasonable occasion provoke other persons to disturb the peace tumultuously”.

I will cede that the purpose of this legislation is noble in its objective and at times can be of assistance to the police in maintaining public peace and good order.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net However, its execution and use can be fraught with danger as it is open to abuse by a government who meddles into the police force or one whose intent is malicious.

For the sake of clarity and the avoidance of doubt, I am not suggesting that the commissioner or any police officer had or have a malicious intent in the execution of their duties.

I share the view of many, who have opined that the offence of unlawful assembly, which is enshrined in the statute laws in many jurisdictions is a bastardisation of the right to free speech and assembly and it has the potential to suck the life and vibrancy out of free speech, particularly in light of the vast discretionary powers it concedes to the police and its susceptibility to political abuse.

In the name of public order, the police are invested with broad powers to silence or curb any group of individuals who seek a public forum or space to assemble to voice their opinion.

The police only needs to cloak its decision in that opaque basket called “in the interest of public peace, order or security”.

The police, as the commissioner so boldly declared, can even choose to act 12 months after an unlawful assembly. This discretion to act as and when law enforcement pleases is precisely what contributes to the toxicity of this law in a democracy.

I hold strongly to the view that in a healthy, active and involved democracy, citizens ought to be given a public space to peacefully and civilly voice their displeasure of or towards their government or elected representatives.

More often than not, groups which are subjected to the unpleasant weight of this offence are groups which are usually in opposition to the government or are representative of a minority class which lacks political or economic influence.

Individuals participating in such demonstrations are usually only seeking a just application of the law or a fair distribution of the state resources or equal access to opportunities controlled by the government.

In my view, the police authorities ought to reasonably expect that these persons would want to voice

such displeasure or disapproval in a vicinity or public space where they will be seen and/or heard by their elected representative.

They ought not to be unreasonably denied the opportunity to do so, no matter how loud and annoying we may find or anticipate their cry might be. It is always better in a vibrant democracy to err in the interest and on the side of responsible free speech.

Usually, in the aftermath of an arrest or detention under this toxic piece of legislation, the police are usually accused of acting on the instructions of politicians.

These accusations become more believable when it can be observed that this law is mostly enforced only when demonstrations or protests are directed at the government or elected representatives.

You seldom see an arrest for unlawful assembly if the protest or demonstration is directed at non state entities or private actors.

The political actors, as we have observed, will usually push back on such assertions and deny any suggestion of political meddling.

The Attorney General and the Minister of National Security in the case involving the DNA did exactly that in various news reports.

While such denial may be grounded in facts, however, when trust and creditably is lacking or lost, such denial becomes muffled and empty.

In my opinion, notwithstanding their loud denial, I am comfortably satisfied that there is political meddling and interference in the uniform branches in this country.

It may or may not have been so in the DNA matter, but I am satisfied that generally there is meddling and interference by political actors in the uniform branches.

This has always been the case and this meddling and interference by politicians persist throughout the public service.

Both of these ministers in their denial went on to proclaim, or suggest that every citizen in this country is “subject to the rule of law”.

They are correct in that we are all subject to the rule of law, but I strongly doubt, any of them can seriously say that “every citizen in this country is equally subjected to the rule of law”.

CLAUDE B HANNA Nassau, March 24, 2021.

THE TRIBUNE

COURT-APPOINTED LAWYER TO DEFEND SHOOTING ACCUSED

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN who was accused of fatally shooting another man in 2004 will receive a court-appointed lawyer to defend him against the Crown’s appeal against a judge’s decision to stay the proceedings of his case.

Garth Hall and another man were accused of shooting and killing Jeremy Butterfield on July 2, 2004.

Police said Mr Butterfield was shot outside of a bar on Bahama Avenue and Market Street. EMS personnel arrived to take him to hospital but he died of his injuries.

During their trial in 2016, the jury was discharged after the presiding judge was informed Hall wished to be heard on a constitutional motion.

At the time, then Senior Justice Stephen Isaacs was presented with a letter on behalf of Hall concerning the 12-year lapse between his arrest and the start of the trial. Hall said he also wished to address the issue

of his fitness to stand trial on the basis that he was shot 13 times earlier that year and alleged the lasting effects of his injuries were impacting his memory.

After hearing the motion, the judge acceded to Hall’s constitutional application and stayed the proceedings.

The Crown appealed that decision on the grounds that “there were no exceptional circumstances which were stipulated by the learned judge”.

During a virtual hearing before Justices Jon Isaacs, Roy Jones, and Carolita Bethel yesterday, Crown attorney Cephia Pinder Moss argued that “it was never demonstrated that a fair trial could not be had”.

Hall, who is currently in custody for an unrelated matter, appeared before the panel without legal representation.

As a result, Justice Isaacs said they would adjourn the matter so the court could assist Hall in obtaining an attorney. He will appear before the appellate panel of justices on May 3 for a status hearing.

ARRAIGNMENT DELAY

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAGISTRATE yesterday questioned why a Jamaican man who was charged with overstaying was not arraigned until about a week after his arrest.

During the man’s arraignment yesterday, the magistrate said this fact suggested some “irregularity” was present at the Department of Immigration and said those types of oversights were contributing to the number of unlawful detainment lawsuits that were draining the country’s resources. He insisted people should be brought before the courts at the earliest convenience to avoid there being a breach of their constitutional rights.

The matter was raised during a hearing involving Jamaican men who overstayed in the country.

Radcliffe Walker, 55, was arrested after immigration officers found him residing in a motel in Bimini, past the time granted to him to remain in the country by an immigration officer.

He appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis alongside Derek Swaby, 30, who was also charged with the same offence.

The court heard on March 15, a team of immigration, police and defence force officers were made aware of a building on the island that was housing suspected foreign nationals.

Acting on this information, the officers went to the Bailey Town premises where they searched the property and found the

two Jamaicans. When they were questioned about their status, Walker gave the officers his passport which revealed he had been granted leave in February to visit the country for seven days.

Swaby’s passport on the other hand, indicated he was granted leave sometime in January and was also only given permission to stay in the country for one week. The court heard neither defendant was granted any further extensions. The prosecution said Walker overstayed for 17 days, while Swaby exhausted his welcome for some 46 days.

During the hearing, both men pleaded guilty. Walker also apologised for committing the offence and told the magistrate it was his first time visiting the country.

He stated that he had spent seven days in custody after he was initially arrested in Bimini and insisted he had planned to “upgrade his ticket” so he could return home. The judge then raised the question about why it took so long for Walker to be brought to court.

Meanwhile Swaby also apologised to the magistrate and begged for leniency. He said while he was “touring the country and having fun,” he “met a girl and fell so in love,” that he got “carried away.”

After listening to their explanations, Magistrate Rolle Davis fined Walker $300 and Swaby $800. He said once the fines were paid, both men would be turned over to the Department of Immigration for deportation back to Jamaica at their own expense.

MAN FINED FOR COCAINE

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 32-YEAR-OLD man who claimed he used cocaine as an antibiotic to help alleviate his immune deficiency disorder has to pay $100 to avoid spending a month behind bars.

Police arrested Naylando Moxey, also known as “Sticky Weed”, after they found three grams of cocaine in his trouser pocket on March 20.

He pleaded guilty to possession of dangerous drugs with the intent to supply during his hearing before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes.

The court was told officers were on mobile patrol in the Grove area around 8.53pm, when they observed Moxey in the area acting in a suspicious manner. As a result, they approached the defendant and informed him he would be searched in reference to dangerous drugs

and firearms. During their investigation, officers found a homemade crack pipe and small foil wrappings which all contained a white powdery substance in Moxey’s right pocket.

He was subsequently arrested and transported to the Drug Enforcement Unit. When he was questioned by police there, he owned up to the offence and said he bought the drugs for $12.

During the hearing, Moxey told the magistrate he was using the cocaine because he “could not find the normal antibiotics” for his condition. However, Magistrate Forbes told the accused using cocaine would only “exacerbate” his health issues.

In response, Moxey said he had come to that realisation as well. “I wouldn’t be trying that again,” he stated.

As a result, Magistrate Forbes accepted his guilty plea and fined him $100 or one month on remand.

Thursday, March 25, 2021, PAGE 7

Drivers protest at Atlantis taxi limit

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

DOZENS of taxicab drivers protested outside Atlantis’ Royal Towers yesterday morning after senior resort officials allegedly imposed a new rule limiting the number of drivers able to be on property to service Paradise Island guests.

The issue was resolved shortly after members took action against the order, which allegedly stated that only some 25 taxi drivers were allowed to be on Atlantis’ property simultaneously to carry out their services.

Bahamas Taxicab Union president Wesley Ferguson yesterday described the rule as an insult to workers who are all trying to make an honest day’s pay in this current economic climate.

He also claimed that resort officials had initially only wanted six taxi drivers to be on property at once, but decided against it after the union immediately opposed the decision.

Mr Ferguson said negotiations were still ongoing

and the union was hoping both parties would come to a peaceful agreement once discussions had concluded.

However, he said the union’s hopes were dashed after learning Wednesday morning that officials had already made a final decision without them being properly consulted. “(The protest) happened in a snap decision this morning and it is as a result of growing tensions created

by Atlantis senior staff and security who are attempting to limit the amount of taxi drivers that are able to operate from Atlantis,” Mr Ferguson told The Tribune.

“So, we were in discussions and before we could’ve come to an amicable agreement, one of Atlantis management decided to be over zealous and decided to pull the trigger on their decision without proper dialogue with the taxicab union. So, we were not in agreement with that decision.

“I sent an e-mail last night to (an official) warning him to not make the decision to limit taxi drivers to just 20 or 25 because the taxi drivers

at Paradise Island (are) now servicing all of the smaller hotels and marina on Paradise island and nearby resort properties in Nassau.”

He continued: “So, it’s imperative that taxi drivers did their antigen test and all of them that were on Atlantis property had in their possession a negative antigen test and we were practising social distancing…but they decide to treat us, I guess, the way they treat the hotel union and to take charge of the taxi industry, but of course, under the leadership of Mr Wesley Ferguson that’s not going to happen so taxi drivers called me (Wednesday) morning and I had to make a snap decision to do the protest.”

The group protested for more than an hour at the resort yesterday.

When contacted about the issue yesterday, Russell Miller, the Paradise Island mega resort’s executive vicepresident of hotel operations, gave a different explanation. Mr Miller said he had planned to discuss the new rules with Mr Ferguson yesterday morning, but noted the union president never

showed up to the meeting.

“The six taxi rule was absolutely incorrect, and the taxi president knows that and he and I discussed it the other day when there were 63 taxis in the lot of the Royal Towers and he and I discussed that and he agreed that 63 was too many and we suggested that we reduce it to 30,” Mr Miller told reporters.

“Now, he sent me a note saying he was coming over here (Tuesday) and he was going to meet with me, but I never heard from him and I got an e-mail late (Tuesday) night and he sent me a note (Wednesday) that he was coming over and I haven’t heard from him, but the numbers are totally incorrect.”

The Tribune was told that both parties eventually spoke yesterday morning and resolved the issue, allowing for some 30 taxi drivers to return to work.

“We were able to resolve that and all taxi drivers were able to go back to work,” Mr Ferguson told this newspaper.

PAGE 8, Thursday, March 25, 2021 “I need to be blunt, the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries.”

WHO Director General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus THE COVID-19 pandemic is arguably the most significant discrete global event since World War II, with just about every country affected, over 2.7 million dead and the death toll rising even as vaccine scepticism and anti-vaccine mindsets have taken hold among many millions globally. The economic devastation is widespread, though there are hopeful signs for recovery in some countries.

There is a worrying cum hopeful juxtaposition: even as vaccines are promising an exit from the emergency phase of the pandemic in some countries, there are surges with more infectious and deadly variants in others. This includes avoidable surges in some jurisdictions, surges made worse by indifferent, dysfunctional or disorganized leadership in various states.

Some of these surges are in European nations such as France and Germany, which have engaged in vaccine nationalism and have proven stunningly incompetent in vaccinating their populations. The European Union is looking paralyzed, shambolic and indifferent to the suffering of developing nations.

There is a furious race between lifesaving vaccines and the still pernicious virus seemingly growing more lethal because of human behaviour, government ineptitude and vaccine hoarding by developed countries, which WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described as “grotesque”.

Vaccines offer hope because they reduce the prevalence of the disease in a locale or jurisdiction and they dramatically reduce the chance of serious illness and death.

Those who are eligible to take a vaccine but refuse

THE TRIBUNE

to do so are gambling with their lives and the lives of their loved ones. To date, over 400 million people have received a vaccine.

The worrying signs include increasing illness among young people, many of whom have been lax in following preventative measures, including gathering in large groups for social events as health care systems continue to collapse.

Last week in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city with a populace of 12.3 million, a 22-year-old COVID patient became the first person in the industrial city to die while waiting for a bed in the intensive care unit (ICU).

YOUNGER

The head of ICU at Emilio Ribas Hospital in the city noted: “We’re seeing a high prevalence of younger patients, with no pre-existing conditions, hospitalised with very severe cases.”

This week, Medical Xpress reported: “In Brazil, like most of the world, severe cases and deaths from COVID-19 were mainly among the elderly during the first wave of the novel coronavirus last year.

“Now, the country is dealing with a devastating resurgence of the virus, blamed partly on the emergence of a new strain known as ‘P1’ or the ‘Brazil variant’…

“This time, the demographic profile of the victims is increasingly young. Before the trend emerged last December, the 30 to 59-year-old age group represented 20 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Brazil.

In about three months, that figure increased to 27 percent, according to health ministry data.

“Half the (COVID19) patients hospitalised in our nursing wards are under 60,” said Luiz Carlos Pereira Junior. “A year ago, at the start of the first wave in Brazil, that figure was 35 percent.

“Last year, I think the fear of an unknown disease had such an impact on

If you can, take the vaccine, because this crisis is far from over

people that they listened to experts’ recommendations.

But they aren’t anymore.

Young people have lost their fear,” said the head of the Emilio Ribas Hospital ICU. On Monday, The Washington Post reported: “After surviving a bout with COVD-19, Texas Roadhouse CEO Kent Taylor’s post-infection symptoms grew increasingly painful.

Taylor was beset in particular with a severe case of tinnitus...

“Last week, amid an escalating fight with the conditions, Taylor, 65, died by suicide, his family said. His body was found on Thursday in a field on property he owned outside Louisville, the CourierJournal reported.

“Taylor’s death highlights

A MAN gets his dose of the Sinovac vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination point for seniors in Duque de Caxias, Brazil, yesterday.

Photo: Silvia Izquierdo/AP the struggle of some head of the WHO issued COVID-19 patients to a warning about vaccine Sadly, as he has through- inequality. manage ‘long haul’ symptoms that are still barely out most of the pandemic, “[Dr] Tedros had emphaunderstood by doctors, as Opposition Leader Philip sised that the development well as growing concerns Davis has continued to and approval of safe corothat suicide risks have behave in an irresponsi- navirus vaccines less than a risen as pandemic-related ble and unstatesmanlike year after the virus’ emerdepression and anxiety manner. His latest pan- gence in China, in late 2019, spike across the United dering jibe and political was a ‘stunning achievegame-playing is querying ment and a much needed States...”

While countries like the why Bahamians do not have source of hope.’

United States, Canada, a choice in the type of vac“However, he added that parts of Europe and the cine they would like to take. ‘it’s not right that younger, With many healthier adults in rich Caribbean may be approach- ‘While countries countries only countries are vaccinated having one before health workers and ing the end of like the United manufacturthe emergency older people in poorer ing source for countries.’ phase of the States, Canada, the vaccine pandemic this parts of “ ‘There will be enough and countries vaccine for everybody, but year depending Europe and the aggressively on the availabilright now we must work trying to secure together as one global ity and reach Caribbean may whatever vac- family to prioritize (those) of vaccinations, be approaching cines are most at risk of serious the pandemic the end of the available, his diseases and death in all will continue remarks were countries.’ to rage in other emergency reckless. jurisdictions, “Without naming names, phase of the He should Tedros said some counposing a health pandemic be encourag- tries and companies speak and economic ing Bahamians the language of equitathreat to coun- this year to take what- ble access but continue to tries that may depending on ever approved prioritize bilateral deals, reach some the availability vaccine is avail- bypassing COVAX, which level of herd able. Mr Davis is driving up prices and immunity in and reach of has achieved a attempting to jump to the 2021. vaccinations, rare feat: with front of the line. ‘This is As reported the pandemic every new ludi- wrong,’ he said.” in Nature: will continue crous utterance “Although The CBNC report he continues informed: “COVAX is a their forecasts to rage in other to diminish global scheme co-led by and timelines jurisdictions.’ his stature and an international vaccine vary, modelcredibility. lers agree on alliance called Gavi, the two things: COVID-19 Notably, he and his deputy Coalition for Epidemic Preis here to stay, and the leader have both taken the paredness Innovations and future depends on a lot available vaccine. also the WHO. Many may recall the of unknowns, including “It was established to whether people develop comical declaration by the ensure equitable vaclasting immunity to the Opposition that it would cine access for every virus, whether seasonality also make vaccines free. country in the world. It affects its spread, and – This was after the Bahamas aims deliver two billion perhaps most importantly Government and the vast doses of safe, effective – the choices made by gov- majority of governments vaccines that have passed ernments and individuals.” had already made such an regulatory approval and/or Last week, Tanzania’s announcement.

WHO pre-qualification by Perhaps the Opposition the end of 2021.

President John Magufuli died at aged 61, reportedly may consider other help“The WHO called on from heart complications ful announcements such wealthier countries that though some suspect it as, “PLP to make use of had pre-ordered millions of may be COVID-related. beaches and sidewalks doses of coronavirus vacHis rabid denialism of the free”, which might then cines, such as the US, UK disease included a refusal inexplicably and laughably and Europe, to share a porof the Tanzanian govern- actually become a newspa- tion of those vaccines with ment to report COVID-19 per headline.

COVAX, so it can then Meanwhile, the vaccine redistribute these to poorer statistics and a declaration last June that the coun- rollout continues. It has countries.” try was “COVID-19-free” achieved high and wideAs the Government conbecause it had been eradi- spread praise throughout tinues to press hard for cated by three days of the country. The National vaccines through purchases Vaccine Consultative and donations, Bahamians prayer.

He mocked mask wear- Committee has done an and residents eligible for ing, suggesting masks extraordinary job in what vaccines should take them may have made matters has been a mostly seamless in order to reduce the risk worse, and also mocked and highly professional and of illness and to promote testing and neighbouring efficient process. herd immunity.

Members of the Commitcountries which instituted Following health guidehealth measures to stem the tee, including individuals lines remains critical as we like Ed Fields, have dem- await the arrival of vaccines spread of the contagion.

When the disease struck onstrated great generosity that have been ordered. the East African nation of spirit in helping to design Even developed countries of 58 million, he told his and to conduct an outstand- like Canada, as well as most country to go to mosques ing and exemplary process.

Caricom countries, have an Many Bahamians, includ- insufficient supply of vacand churches to pray and proclaimed: “Coro- ing older Bahamians, have cines, as medical experts navirus, which is a devil, happily been vaccinated and are advising people to take cannot survive in the body are beginning to feel a sense whatever approved vacof Christ... It will burn of relief. But we remain cines are available. in a pandemic mode and instantly.”

The end of the emerLike many other coun- must continue to abide by gency phase of the tries, The Bahamas is the health care measures as pandemic in The Bahamas having great difficulty in deadly variants grip other is closer because of the securing vaccines though countries. The rise in cases good sense and discipline Prime Minister Dr Hubert on some islands remains a of most Bahamians, the Minnis and his colleagues cause for concern. We are leadership of the Bahamas have been working vulnerable to a third surge.

Government and the good As reported on CNBC, work of frontline workers furiously to secure WHOapproved vaccines. as early as mid-January, the and scores of volunteers.

PANDERING

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 25, 2021, PAGE 9

New White House, same problems - gun control and The Wall THE first two amendments to the American constitution, which were ratified on December 15, 1791, have moved back into the forefront of the news in the past couple of weeks.

The First Amendment’s right to freedom of speech and the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms are both being tested, in settings ranging from the backyard fence to public opinion polls and corporate boardrooms.

Let’s take the Second first. Ten people including a police officer were murdered in a large food store earlier this week in one of America’s most sought-after places to live – Boulder, Colorado. Job availability is famously low in Boulder and the cost of home ownership is notoriously high.

Not far north from the metropolis of Denver but without most of its racial and other sociological tensions, Boulder boasts cleaner air, the majestic front range of the Rocky Mountains in your backyard and the intellectual draw and public prestige of its flagship public university, the University of Colorado.

While details of this latest mass killing are still trickling in, it’s safe to predict that this most recent American gun outrage will reinvigorate efforts by Democrats and liberals in Washington and elsewhere to impose greater limits on the sale and licensing of firearms in the US. In fact, some observers are puzzled that it has taken so long already for the new administration to prioritize gun control legislation.

It may be a propitious time for such efforts, inasmuch as the National Rifle Association, America’s leading gun rights advocate, has been debilitated in recent years by leadership fights, allegations of massive financial fraud and revelations of embarrassing indiscretions by some of the NRA’s most public spokespersons.

But gun control will likely have to wait its turn. The Biden Administration has obviously prioritised pandemic recovery on its to-do list, probably followed by infrastructure and immigration reform in some order.

A $3 trillion infrastructure bill to upgrade deteriorating bridges, roads and waterways and other ties that bind the country together has been rumoured for weeks.

Coming on the heels of a nearly $2 trillion COVID19 relief package, Biden and Company will certainly not be restricting their ambitions for public spending.

But the protections and benefits afforded to voters across the US by both pieces of legislation will be significant and should go far to promote Biden’s expressed goal to slash unemployment rates while his Federal Reserve Bank and Treasury Department endeavour to limit to acceptable levels the monetary inflation theoreticians believe must inevitably follow such

heavy government borrowing and spending.

Biden clearly hopes the beneficiaries of his largesse will remember who provided the cash and jobs when elections roll around next year and in 2024.

That the surge of immigration at America’s southern border has caught out the new administration is surprising. After four years of Trump literally begging, borrowing and stealing money to build his famous wall along the US-Mexican border and fulminating regularly about the hordes of illegal aliens threatening the US from Central America, Biden arrived in office restoring the Dream Act and promising a more liberal immigration policy.

Did Biden imagine that impoverished and politically fearful dreamers from the Panama Canal to the Rio Grande River would not suddenly sense an opportunity to improve their chances at entering the US and securing social protections and employment in its giant economy?

Whatever the new administration may have anticipated, they certainly appear to have been unprepared for the surge toward their southern border. But no matter how relatively humane the Biden immigration stance may be, the US was swiftly deluged with opportunistic wouldbe immigrants. Biden needs to get a grip on the situation and establish border stability even as his government tackles huge infrastructure, voting rights and other challenges.

Biden can at least be thankful his predecessor is likely somewhat preoccupied with vengeful political thoughts and a looming avalanche of legal difficulties. Furthermore, since his exclusion from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in the days just after the January 6 assault by his followers on the US Capitol, Donald Trump has been unable to publicly gloat as he might previously have done at his beleaguered successor’s travails.

That is not to say Trump is now silent. You just have to look much harder to find out what he is saying. The following Trump response to the current American southern border situation comes from his statement cited by the Conservative Direct web site: “We proudly handed the Biden Administration the most secure border in history. All they had to do was keep this smooth-running system on autopilot.

Instead, in the span of a just few weeks, the Biden Administration has turned a national triumph into a national disaster. They are in way over their heads and taking on water fast,” Trump wrote.

“The pathetic, clueless performance of (new Department of Homeland Security) Secretary Mayorkas on the Sunday Shows today was a national disgrace,” Trump said. “His self-satisfied presentation in the middle of the massive crisis he helped engineer - is

WHATEVER individuals may feel about Trump’s recent relative public silence, the news media has missed him terribly.

Consider these facts, reported by Nielsen Media Research: CNN, still regarded by most Americans as the most politically neutral cable news network, has lost a staggering 45 percent of its prime-time audience in the past five weeks!

Left-leaning MSNBC has

dropped 26 percent over the same time frame.

Even Fox News has seen a six percent decline.

That this could be foreseen does not diminish its import. CNN’s president told reporters in 2018 that “we’ve seen that, any time you break away from the Trump story and cover events these days, the audience goes away.”

And Trump didn’t just boost TV ratings. The New York Times had three

A MAN leaves a bouquet on a police cruiser parked outside the Boulder Police Department after an officer was one of the victims of a mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store.

Photo: David Zalubowski/AP

STATESIDE

with Charlie Harper

yet more proof he is incapable of leading DHS. Even someone of Mayorkas’ limited abilities should understand that if you provide Catch-and-Release to the world’s illegal aliens then the whole world will come.

“This Administration’s reckless policies are enabling and encouraging crimes against humanity. Our Country is being destroyed!”

Trump urged Biden to “immediately complete the wall, which can be done in a matter of weeks - they should never have stopped it”.

“The only way to end the Biden Border Crisis is for them to admit their total failure and adopt the profoundly effective, proven Trump policies,” the former President wrote.

It certainly appears Trump has lost none of the bite in his public statements.

Has it been a relief to have been relatively free of such venom for the past couple of months?

But is that about to change? In the name of his First Amendment free speech rights, is Trump poised to recapture his much more amplified public voice?

While Trump’s Twitter ban is supposedly permanent, time will tell.

Facebook, meanwhile, has referred its Trump ban to a distinguished panel of worldwide experts for their advice.

Some response is due next month. What if Facebook’s luminaries recommend Trump’s free speech rights need to be restored?

Naturally, there has been public opinion polling on this issue. To the surprise of no one, over 75 percent of Republicans favoured Facebook restoration for Trump and a similar number of Democrats opposed it.

Independents were almost

A STING IN THE TAIL

million digital subscribers at the beginning of Trump’s term. In four years, that number had jumped to 7.5 million. The Washington Post tripled its online subscription base over the same period.

Trump himself predicted in 2017 that “newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I’m not there. Because without me, their ratings will go down the tubes”.

He looks right so far.

evenly split.

And even as the topic gains greater currency, there have been signals from Palm Beach that the former President is preparing to take

matters into his own hands.

Jason Miller, a spokesman for Trump’s 2020 campaign, told Fox News the other day that Trump would shortly re-enter the

social media sphere with a new platform of his own that would “completely redefine the game”.

The idea makes sense.

Trump could not only regain a potentially very potent megaphone for publicising himself, but he could very likely make some serious money in doing so. Returning to the centre of the American political and social discourse while raking in lots of cash? Sounds so like Trump.

PAGE 10, Thursday, March 25, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

WHY DO THE REMAINS OF THOUSANDS OF BLACK AMERICANS LIE IN US UNIVERSITIES?

By DELANDE JUSTINVIL Doctoral student in anthropology, American University and CHIP COLWELL, Associate research professor of anthropology, University of Colorado Denver

AMONG the human remains in Harvard University’s museum collections are those of 15 people who were probably enslaved African American people.

Earlier this year, the school announced a new committee that will conduct a comprehensive survey of Harvard’s collections, develop new policies and propose ways to memorialise and repatriate the remains.

“We must begin to confront the reality of a past in which academic curiosity and opportunity overwhelmed humanity,” wrote Harvard president Lawrence S Bacow.

This dehumanising history of collecting African American bodies as scientific specimens is not a problem just at Harvard. Last year, the University of Pennsylvania announced that its anthropology museum will address the legacy of the 1,300 human skulls – including those of 55 enslaved people from Cuba and the US - in its collection, which was historically used to denigrate the intelligence and character of black people and Native Americans.

Other institutions have far more black skeletons in their closets. By one estimate, the Smithsonian Institution, Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Howard University hold the remains of some 2,000 African Americans among

SAMUEL GEORGE MORTON, who boasted the first collection of human remains. them. The total only now seeking to recognise increases when consider- and redress the deep hising museums with remains tory of violence against from other populations black bodies. Museums across the African dias- and society are finally conpora. How many more sets fronting how the desires of remains lie in museum of science have at times storerooms across the eclipsed the demands of United States, and whether human rights. or not they were collected How did the remains of with consent, is unknown. so many black people end As archaeologists, we up in collections, and what understand the impulse to can be done about it? gather human remains to tell our human story. Osteobiographies, life histories constructed from skeletal remains, can offer insights The abuse and circulainto nutritional, migratory, pathological and even tion of African American political-economic condi- human remains for research tions of past populations. dates back at least to 1763, However, scholars and with the dissection of activists across the US are corpses of the enslaved for

COLLECTING BLACK BODIES

the first anatomy lecture in the American Colonies.

The systematic collection of African American remains, as well as those of people from other marginalised communities, began with the work of Samuel George Morton.

Considered the founder of American physical anthropology, Morton professionalised the acquisition of human remains in the name of scientific practice and education.

Morton boasted the first collection of human remains, at one point considered to be the largest globally. He used its subjects-turned-specimens to promote racist hierarchies through pseudoscientific interpretations of cranial measurements. His research resulted in his 1839 magnum opus, “Crania Americana,” replete with hundreds of hand-drawn images of skulls and faultylogic racial categorisation.

His collection eventually ended up at the University of Pennsylvania. Only last year did the university officially announce the collection had been removed from a shelved display within an archaeology classroom.

The impact of Morton’s collection and career ricocheted far and wide, laying the foundation for unethical practices built on the theft, transportation and accumulation of human remains – especially of those most marginalised.

Collecting surged during the time of the Civil War. From the late 19th century well into the 20th, skeletal collections in museums across the country skyrocketed.

Morton also influenced the ideology of biologist Louis Agassiz, his eventual collaborator. Agassiz founded Harvard’s Museum

of Comparative Zoology, which originally bore his name. His own collection practices around the photographed bodies of the enslaved have embroiled the university in a public lawsuit.

Institutions long embraced such collections primarily for the pseudoscientific work of justifying racial hierarchies. But they also enhanced their prestige by the number of remains in their collections that could be used for research as well as for exhibitions that fed the public’s morbid curiosity.

Eventually, most collecting institutions shifted away from these original goals but held on to human remains for teaching skeletal biology and testing new scientific methods. A majority of museum collections, however, sit unused, retained in the belief that they may help answer questions at some point in the future.

Ultimately, the remains of African American people, freed or enslaved, are in these collections because the captivity of their bodies, both living and deceased, was the very foundation of museums of medicine, anthropology, archaeology, natural history and more.

While some academic and cultural institutions have taken the initiative to confront their legacies with slavery – such as decolonisation efforts to include more diverse perspectives and values – a national effort has yet to take shape.

DESECRATED IN LIFE AND DEATH

The US Senate passed the African American Burial Grounds Network Act in December 2020.

This bill would establish a

voluntary network to identify and protect often at-risk African American cemeteries. The programme would be administered through the National Park Service, and nothing in the legislation would apply to private property without the consent of landowners. More than 50 prominent national, state and local organisations support the passage of the act into law and are working to have it reintroduced in Congress’ current session.

But even this legislation does not include the remains of Black people in museum collections. Such an addition would be more in line with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, a 1990 federal law that addresses Native American human remains in all contexts – both in the ground and in collections. This work is necessary because many of the remains of black people, like those of Native Americans, were taken without the consent of family, used in ways that contravened spiritual traditions, and treated with less respect than most others in society.

In the absence of such an addition, the work of finding all of the African American remains in museums will be unorganised and inconsistent. Institutions will need to make efforts on their own, which will cost more money and consume more resources.

Even more importantly, the absence of a coordinated, national effort will mean the delay of justice for thousands of African American ancestors whose bodies have been, and continue to be, desecrated.

• Originally published on theconversation.com

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 25, 2021, PAGE 11

CAREFUL WHERE YOU PARK THAT CARGO SHIP ISMAILIA, Egypt Associated Press

A BOAT navigates in front of a cargo ship, Ever Given, after it become wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal and blocked all traffic.

A SKYSCRAPERSIZED container ship has become wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal and blocked all traffic in the vital waterway, officials said yesterday.

The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground on Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula. Images showed the ship’s bow was touching the eastern

wall, while its stern looked lodged against the western wall — an extraordinary event that experts said they had never heard of happening before in the canal’s 150-year history.

Tugboats strained to try to nudge the obstruction out of the way as ships hoping to enter the waterway began lining up in the Mediterranean and Red Seas. But it remained unclear when the route, through which around 10 percent of world trade flows, would reopen. One official warned it could take at least two days.

Vaccinations rise and deaths fall in US MORE than three months into the US vaccination drive, many of the numbers paint an increasingly encouraging picture, with 70 percent of Americans 65 and older receiving at least one dose of the vaccine and COVID-19 deaths dipping below 1,000 a day on average for the first time since November.

Also, dozens of states have thrown open vaccinations to all adults or are planning to do so in a matter of weeks. And the White House said 27 million doses of both the one-shot and two-shot vaccines will be distributed next week, more than three times the number when President Joe Biden took office two months ago.

Still, Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said Wednesday he isn’t ready to declare victory.

“I’m often asked, are we turning the corner?” Fauci said at a White House briefing. “My response is really more like we are at the corner. Whether or not we’re going to be turning that corner still remains to be seen.”

What’s giving Fauci pause, he said, is that new cases remain at a stubbornly high level, at more than 50,000 per day.

Nonetheless, the outlook in the US stands in stark contrast to the deteriorating situation in places like Brazil, which reported more than 3,000 COVID19 deaths in a single day for the first time Tuesday, and across Europe, where another wave of infections is leading to new lockdowns.

The gloom in Europe is compounded because the vaccine rollout on the continent has been slowed by production delays and questions about the safety and effectiveness of AstraZeneca’s shot.

Public health experts in the US are taking every opportunity to warn that relaxing social distancing and other preventive measures could easily lead to another surge.

Dr Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, sees red flags in states lifting mask mandates, air travel roaring back and spring break crowds

ANITA SHETTY, left, vaccinates Doris Lucas with a Pfizer vaccine in Atlanta. partying out of control in unmistakable signs of Florida. progress.

“We’re getting closer to More than 43 percent of the exit ramp,” Topol said. Americans 65 and older “All we’re doing by having — the most vulnerable age reopenings is jeopardizing group, accounting for an our shot to get, finally, for outsize share of the nation’s the first time in the Ameri- more than 540,000 coronacan pandemic, containment virus deaths — have been of the virus.” fully vaccinated, according Across the country are to the CDC. The number

of older adults showing up in emergency rooms with COVID-19 is down significantly. Vaccinations overall have ramped up to 2.5 million to three million shots per day.

Deaths per day in the U.S. from COVID-19 have dropped to an average of 940, down from an alltime high of over 3,400 in mid-January.

Minnesota health officials on Monday reported no new deaths from COVID-19 for the first time in nearly a year. And in New Orleans, the Touro Infirmary hospital was not treating a single case for the first time since March 2020.

And Fauci cited two recent studies that show negligible lev dels of coronavirus infections among fully vaccinated health care workers in Texas and California.

“I emphasise how we need to hang in there for just a little while longer,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday. That’s because “the early data are really

encouraging”.

Nationwide, new cases and the number of people hospitalised with COVID19 have plummeted over the past two months, though Walensky remains concerned that such progress seemed to stall in the past couple of weeks. New cases are running at more than 53,000 a day on average, down from a peak of a quarter-million in early January.

That’s uncomfortably close to levels seen during the COVID-19 wave of last summer.

Biden has pushed for states to make all adults eligible to be vaccinated by May 1. A least a half-dozen states, including Texas, Arizona and Georgia, are opening up vaccinations to everyone over 16. At least 20 other states have pledged to do so in the next few weeks.

Microsoft, which employs more than 50,000 people at its global headquarters in suburban Seattle, has said it will start bringing back workers on March 29 and reopen installations that have been closed for nearly a year.