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VOLUME:117 No.92, APRIL 2, 2020

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As PM confirms Bimini death was COVID-19, he reveals

We need to plan a new future

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis warned yesterday that tough times are ahead for the Bahamian economy and that Bahamians must be ready for “generational changes” to the country’s economic structure after the COVID-19 crisis ends.

He said he will convene a group of experts to provide ideas and help create a masterplan for rebuilding the economy.

He spoke during a press conference in which he also revealed that Bimini resident Kim JohnsonRolle is the first confirmed COVID-19 death in the country.

“Joblessness is on the rise across the globe and here at home,” he said.

“The economic crisis is severe for The Bahamas.

Our economy is based on tourism. The world has closed its borders. We have closed our borders… with no tourists coming to SEE PAGE THREE

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis warned yesterday of tough times ahead

NURSE’S TRAUMA SEEING EASTERN NP HOTSPOT AS PATIENTS DIE ‘ALL ALONE’ CASES SURGE UP TO 21

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN registered nurse Tahnee Johnson-Whitehead has been working on the front lines of a West Palm Beach hospital where scores of severely ill COVID-19 patients are

fighting for their lives.

The 28-year-old told The Tribune yesterday that of all the things she’s seen in her year and a half as an RN, what’s most daunting is seeing people die alone and without the comfort of family or friends.

For the past two weeks, SEE PAGE THREE

By RASHAD ROLLE She was transported Tribune Senior Reporter to New Providence on rrolle@tribunemedia.net Monday after experiencing respiratory distress.

PRIME Minister Dr Dr Minnis revealed the Hubert Minnis con- positive test result while firmed yesterday that Kim announcing the country’s Johnson-Rolle, a 57-year- COVID-19 cases have old Bimini resident and surged by six to 21. mother-of-three, is the He said health officials, country’s first known COVID-19 death.

SEE PAGE TWO

ARE CRUISE SHIP SICK HEADING HERE? FRONT

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net THE United States Coast Guard has told foreign-flagged cruise ships to be prepared to care for people with COVID-19 for an uncertain period of time at sea or seek help from countries in which they are registered.

Rear Admiral EC Jones, commander of the Seventh Coast, issued the

directive in a new communication, singling out The Bahamas.

“Foreign flagged vessels that loiter beyond US territorial seas, particularly those registered in The Bahamas, that require a (medical evacuation) to a shoreside facility should seek flag state support prior to seeking support from the limited facilities in the US,” he wrote.

Asked about the matter during a press conference

yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis was brief in his response.

He said: “There’s an ongoing discussion with ourselves and the US government.”

Rear Admiral Jones, whose Coast Guard district includes Florida, Puerto Rico, Georgia and South Carolina, wrote: “Medical facilities in the Port of Miami, for

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE TWO

PORCH

BY SIMON

SEE PAGE TEN

PAGE 2, Thursday, April 2, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

Eastern NP hotspot as cases hit 21 from page one using GIS mapping, have identified hotspots of coronavirus cases in Grand Bahama and eastern New Providence. “I have already communicated this information to the commissioner of police and he has stepped up and ensured that everyone, inclusive of those in the east, adhere to the curfew and adhere to the policies the government has instituted,” he said.

Dr Minnis said an investigation and contact tracing have begun into Mrs Johnson-Rolle’s case. He said the government has an agreement in place with air ambulance services to transport ill Family Island residents to New Providence, but when pressed on why the service was not activated to transport Mrs Johnson-Rolle earlier, he said an investigation is ongoing into the matter.

“Medical facilities are there for (Family Islands residents) and we’ve made provisions should any need to be transported to New Providence we will ensure that they can be transported properly,” he said during the press conference.

Dr Minnis pleaded with Family Island residents to stay home. “Please, do not go wandering from settlement to settlement,” he said.

“Do not visit friends or families. Do not allow or accept visitors from other parts of the Bahamas within your jurisdictions. Be careful for those who visit your shores on boats. They can introduce the virus into your territory but be assured that the government will continue to monitor and ensure that our family islands are safe and they will be cared for.

“No resident of New Providence or Grand Bahama should travel to any Family Island or cay. Likewise, no one from the Family Islands or cays should travel to another island or cay. Our greatest tool in the fight against this virus is following the public health advice to be physically distant from one another. There is no vaccine for this virus as yet.

There is no cure.”

Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan said Bimini is not under quarantine.

She said the healthcare facility that received Mrs Johnson-Rolle will be sanitised.

Dr Minnis, meanwhile, said 50 healthcare professionals have been sidelined because they were exposed to the virus. He announced that effective immediately, private medical and dental practices must eliminate routine and non-emergency physical encounters with patients and provide routine and non-emergency services using virtual or remote means.

He said a volunteer hotline is being set up to register people interested in contributing to the COVID-19 fight.

Asked what tools officials will use to address community spread in the eastern end of New Providence, Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, the country’s COVID-19 coordinator, said there are various survey options under review by officials, including rapid testing, temperature monitoring and community quarantine. She said hotpots are determined by the number of contacts per case, among other things.

“We have plotted the cases, we’ve plotted the contacts, we’ve looked not only at the contacts but what the epic-curve is showing us so together temperature monitoring, temperature surveillance, rapid testing which is a survey tool not a diagnostic tool, and we’re looking at the contacts in the hotspots that are having symptoms,” she said.

ARE CRUISE SHIP SICK HEADING HERE? from page one

example, are no longer accepting MEDEVAC patients due to limited hospital capacity and it is expected that neighbouring counties will follow suit.”

The cruise ship industry is currently under a 30-day suspension of all trips from the US which took effect last month. But dozens of ships remain at sea. The new rules apply to

vessels carrying more than 50 people.

On Monday, The Tribune reported that Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas was anchored off the coast of Great Harbour Cay with 14 crew members positive for COVID-19.

He said on Sunday, there were five RCCL ships anchored in the Coco Cay area. The Oasis has not requested food or medical assistance from The Bahamas at this time, he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 2, 2020, PAGE 3

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

MINNIS: WE NEED TO PLAN A NEW FUTURE from page one

our shores now and into the foreseeable future, tough times are here and ahead of us. This is one of the greatest challenges to the world economy in most of our lifetimes. We do not know how long this will last…as we had to

assume great authority through the Emergency Powers Act, my government will have to make major changes to our economy.

“Tourism, which has carried us so well for so long, is in a state of suspension due to the virus. When it comes back to The Bahamas we must be ready to welcome the world to our shores. However, no

one knows when that will be. As a people, we have to be ready to shift how we operate.”

Dr Minnis noted that Finance Minister Peter Turnquest has announced relief for those hurt by the virus, measures which he said are worth “tens of millions of dollars in various types of assistance.”

“I urge everyone in need to make use of the initiatives that include food assistance, unemployment benefits, loans and tax credits and deferrals,” he said.

“We will also shortly be making an announcement about rental assistance.”

Dr Minnis also said that by the end of the week, the government

will release a supermarket schedule to reduce the number of people on lines and in stores.

On Tuesday, National Insurance Minister Brensil Rolle said 17,000 applications for unemployment benefits have been submitted because of the COVID-19 crisis.

This figure does not include laid off hotel workers.

Nurse’s trauma seeing patients die ‘all alone’ from page one

BAHAMIAN registered nurse Tahnee Johnson-Whitehead has been working on the front lines of a West Palm Beach hospital where scores of COVID-19 patients are fighting for their lives.

the young wife and mother has been working gruelling 12-hour shifts floating between the hospital’s intensive care unit where the severely ill patients fight for their lives - most times dying - and other units where patients are in a better condition, clinging to the hope that they’ll pull through.

As cases started to climb in her area, she said the hospital converted a tower solely for COVID19 patients. “They are dying and they are dying alone,” she said from Florida. “We’re there, that is the medical personnel, but there is no family allowed. We aren’t allowing visitors in our hospital and they are passing away very quickly. It’s just staff there and they are just by themselves.

“It started off slow

but now there’s a lot of COVID-19 patients. The floor I work on is supposed to be a cardiac unit but they have basically transformed a whole tower of my hospital to just be COVID and so because there aren’t any more cardiac surgeries I have been floating to the COVID units and the COVID ICU.” International reports have said the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in Florida has accelerated rapidly, nearly doubling in the past four days, with 3,274 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 6,741 as of Tuesday evening.

Palm Beach Country, according to data this week, has 514 total cases and 11 deaths.

Having seen patients struggle to breathe and fight to live, Mrs Whitehead insisted it is

foolish for Bahamians not to take the disease seriously. She said cases have seemed to multiply around the world after merely trickling in during the earlier days of the pandemic.

“You can turn on any news channel and see what’s happening around the world. It’s not just elderly people or immunocompromised people.

The virus is affecting people who have been well and some in their 30s who are suffering and dying,” Mrs Whitehead said.

“I think especially being from such a small place, people need to heed the warnings. They should continue to be socially distant and stay inside when you don’t need to be outside. This is a real thing and I don’t think Doctors Hospital or PMH can handle an influx of these patients.”

SINGLE MUM STRUGGLING TO MAKE ENDS MEET

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT ts-cartwright @tribunemedia.net

TWO weeks ago, Kamille Adderley was laid off with only two days’ pay.

With her employer closing because of the government’s COVID19 emergency orders, the young mother says she is not in a position to pay her rent or care for her twoyear-old child.

“Only God has gotten me through this so far or else I would have been crazy,” Ms Adderley, 26, said. “I have no job, can’t go anywhere to check on things. I work at a jewellery store downtown.

My boss told us on March 15 that everything was shutting down and there would be no cruise ships in town and that he has no other choice but to close down the store and lay us off temporarily.

“He paid us for the two days we had worked and told us he cannot say when we can come back to work.

Some think we won’t be back for the rest of the year.

We don’t know what’s happening with that.

“I took that money, the

KAMILLE Adderley was laid off with only two days’ pay two days’ pay, and went citizens going to grocery straight to my landlord stores, banks, pharmacies and told them that’s all I and takeaway food outlets. have and I have no idea Ms Adderley’s rent is where the next payment due every two weeks and will be coming from. I don’t is inclusive of power and feel good about this, but water. She is anxious that if I had no choice as it’s the she cannot pay her rent, her roof over my head and my utilities may be shut off as child’s head.” well.

The entire country has Although she said she been on a 24-hour curfew made a small salary, it was since last week with only enough to pay her rent limited movement allowed and buy necessities for her to essential workers and child. She is a single mother

and said she receives no assistance from her child’s father. “Besides the rent, I have no food for my child or (diapers),” she said. “I have no money coming in and I don’t know what to do.

My daughter needs to eat and she also has things she would need like Pampers. I am trying to potty-train her, but she still uses Pampers.

“I don’t know what to do. I explained to the landlord what was happening to me, but you know landlords have bills to pay as well. I am afraid of being evicted with my child. So far the landlord has not been threatening, but I know they want their money. I don’t want to be evicted with this young child. I’ve seen people end up with legal action being taken against them when they couldn’t pay their rent here and I’ve seen locks being changed. I can only hope and pray that God helps me.”

The National Insurance Board is offering unemployment assistance to people who have been laid off due to the COVID-19 crisis. On Tuesday, National Insurance Minister Brensil Rolle said the agency had received 17,000 applications

so far; this does not include laid off hotel workers who will be processed separately.

Asked if she has applied for an unemployment benefit, Ms Adderley, who has no computer, said she has no way of applying online.

She is also doubtful she will receive the immediate assistance she needs at this time if she applies.

“This has been the worst few days of my life,” Ms Adderley continued. “I heard that NIB has some 17,000 applications before them and that’s not the hotel people as yet. That’s what I heard. Those payments are going to take months to process and someone told me they don’t get cheques from NIB until

months after they applied for benefits. I cannot wait for months to get money.

I might be working again when they finally pay me.

“The government is telling you how to get some assistance, but the way it’s being explained is not clear to me. On top of that I have no way of getting to NIB or Social Services because the buses have stopped running. The bus is my only means of transportation. I would have gotten on a bus and gone to a few places, but now I can’t.”

Public transport has been shut down to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Ms Adderley is now appealing for public assistance.

PAGE 4, Thursday, April 2, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

Residents in fear after first death confirmed as COVID-19

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

BIMINI residents are concerned about a possible spread of the COVID-19 virus on the island after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis confirmed the Bimini woman who died in New Providence Monday night tested positive for the disease.

One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Tribune she is concerned about the amount of medical supplies on Bimini and the level of response to get people proper medical care if more COVID cases were to arise. “My concern is that there is no proper protocol when it comes down to the medical attention. They don’t have any tests (on the island),” she said. “What’s happening now is that the virus (probably) has already spread on this island because of the contact they had with people. The family owned a restaurant and that didn’t

close until she died. So, people going there might’ve communicated with her family and so it might’ve been more people exposed than you really think.”

Her comments came minutes after Dr Minnis revealed six additional cases of COVID-19 in New Providence, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 21.

During his address yesterday, Dr Minnis also confirmed that 57-year-old Kim Johnson-Rolle from Bimini, who died in Nassau on Monday night, tested positive for the highly infectious disease.

According to a relative, Mrs Johnson-Rolle, who travelled to Florida two weeks ago, complained of having chest pains early this week and went to the Bimini clinic.

The family was informed that Mrs Johnson-Rolle was having issues with oxygen intake and would need to be airlifted to Nassau for further medical treatment.

However, she died

Monday shortly after arriving in New Providence, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands told reporters on Tuesday.

Bimini residents, speaking to The Tribune said the death has left the tight-knitted community in shock. “We was in the same church. We all grow up together. It’s a terrible blow and it was sad that they took so long to get her out of here,” said Lyle Saunders from Bailey Town.

Mrs Johnson-Rolle’s daughter, Kotekennya Rolle-Edgecombe said on Facebook: “I’m still in shock and my heart feels crushed… Words will never be able to express my love for you, and how much I will miss you.

“My heart is shattered.

But some of your last words to me was ‘just pray Kotes’.

I will teach my children like you taught me to pray and trust God.” A relative has said it took more than 24 hours to organize an emergency flight off the island. The

KIM Johnson-Rolle from Bimini tested positive for the highly infectious disease.

Royal Bahamas Defence Force ultimately airlifted the patient along with a medical team.

Asked by reporters yesterday about “what went wrong” in Bimini, Dr Minnis replied the matter was under investigation.

After Mrs Johnson-Rolle’s death, residents on the island are calling for the government to implement new measures where those in need of medical attention on the Family Islands can be airlifted to the capital faster.

Pastor Dexter Rolle of Bimini, said: “I don’t know what the logistics are pertaining to the islands having their own medical people and equipment (but) The Bahamas is pretty big and I think we have a lot of professionals but that’s a question I would like to have answered on why is

it that the islands can’t be on par with Nassau and Freeport.

“This 2020 now and when we look at places in the United States, you go in one state and everything is basically the same.”

Dr Sands has said “every effort” was made by officials to get Mrs Johnson-Rolle the required medical care.

Speaking to reporters outside Cabinet on Tuesday, he said: “I’ve had questions asked about the availability of ventilators on the Family Islands. (But) it’s very important to understand that a ventilator in the wrong hands is a dangerous tool.

“And a ventilator, if you put a breathing tube in somebody’s earway, COVID, which is ordinarily spread through a droplet

will become aerosolized and you have the attention of infecting or contaminating everybody in the room.”

He continued: “We do not have intensive care units in Acklins, Crooked Island, Bimini, Long Island etc, nor are we likely in the foreseeable future to have intensive care units.

“So, as we look seriously at the rollout of our national response to COVID, I think we have to be honest, I think we have to be direct with the Bahamian public to help them understand the implications.”

“This is not about machines. This is about the holistic ability to provide competent, intensive care support to critically care patients and that could only be done in Grand Bahama and Nassau.”

MP CONCERNED ABOUT FLIGHT TIME FOR VICTIM

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net WEST Grand Bahama and Bimini MP Pakesia Parker Edgecombe said the concerns of her constituents about the length of time it took for a critically ill patient to be flown from Bimini to New Providence will be addressed.

The woman, Kim Johnson-Rolle, 57, died on Monday shortly after arriving in New Providence for medical treatment. She has since tested positive for COVID-19. A relative has said it took too long to get her off the island.

When contacted by The Tribune, Mrs Parker-Edgecombe said: “The concerns of residents (in Bimini) are not falling on deaf ears.

I can say that the issues which they have expressed have been addressed by the country’s leaders of the health sector, Dr Duane Sands and his entire team.

MP Pakesia Parker Edgecombe “We are all saddened by the turn of events. . .truly the entire island of Bimini is in mourning.”

Mrs Parker-Edgecombe noted that Mrs Rolle was well-known in her community. “Both she and her family have done much for its growth and development. She will be missed tremendously,” she added.

“Her care while at the Bimini clinic was dealt with more than professionally, with the team remaining with her non-stop.

“I am sensitive to the concerns of the family and community at large, and I

do understand the raw emotions following the entire ordeal. They all remain in my prayers at this time.

“I must note that my inquiries to relevant authorities regarding the concerns expressed by the community surrounding the time frame during which she was taken out of Bimini suggest that the response time was not an intrinsic health system issue…. but challenges with the safe transport by air carriers.

“I too am concerned about this issue and recommit myself to working for and on behalf of that community to alleviate such challenges in future, as well as any other concern facing the provision of health care in that community.”

Mrs Parker-Edgecombe believes Bimini’s protocol, led by the island’s administrator Cleola Pinder, local government practitioners, health officials, and other stakeholders was more than adequate.

FREEPORT NEWS LOSES 12 WORKERS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net THE Freeport News has let go 12 workers as part of a downsizing exercise, reducing the staff complement to six in Grand Bahama. Fred Stirrup, general manager, confirmed the layoffs, saying they were necessary because the newspaper’s operations were compromised, initially by Hurricane Dorian and now by the COVID-19 crisis.

He indicated the newspaper was not generating any revenue because the paper,

which was being printed at the Nassau Guardian after the storm damaged its printing press in Freeport, could not be flown to Grand Bahama because the airlines are no longer running. “It’s a double jeopardy – first Hurricane Dorian compromised the business in Freeport where we had four-and-a-half feet of water...and our (printing) press was compromised,” he explained.

After the storm, the newspaper moved to the RND Plaza complex, and staff started printing the paper at the Nassau Guardian, its sister company in

New Providence. Mr Stirrup said the coronavirus pandemic has affected companies all over the world.

“The coronavirus came and caused the airlines to stop running, so there is no flight to bring the paper in (to Grand Bahama) and we have not been able to generate any revenue,” he explained.

“The company was forced to downsize as other companies are doing all over the world.”

He noted the newspaper’s editorial department is still functioning and using social media and online avenues.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 2, 2020, PAGE 5

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

WE DON’T HAVE ANY FACE MASKS LEFT, SAY PHARMACIES

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT ts-cartwright @tribunemedia.net WHILE health officials have changed their stance on people wearing masks to reduce the spread of COVID-19, some local pharmacies say they don’t have any available for sale.

“We don’t have any masks,” said a supervisor at Lowe’s Pharmacy on Soldier Road, who did not give her name. “I am not sure when we are going to get any either.”

An employee at The Friendly Pharmacy in Cable Beach, said none were available and she had

no idea when they would be in stock. Another pharmacy said the masks in stock were only for employees.

“Unfortunately we only have sufficient masks for our staff,” said Laura Charlton, proprietor, Prescription Parlour Pharmacy.

“At this time we do not intend to sell masks because we had some before and some of the price points are a lot more expensive than what we want to sell them for and we don’t want the unnecessary fall out from persons thinking we were price gorging so we are just referring them to others who we know are selling them.”

On Tuesday, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said that while

medical grade face masks are needed as a priority for healthcare workers and others on the frontline, homemade masks may “provide some protection” to the general public.

“We have moved from some of our strongly held views,” Dr Sands said on 96.9FM show Morning Blend, with host Dwight Strachan.

“For instance, even up to yesterday (Monday), the World Health Organization (WHO) has been saying that face masks are not being recommended.

The Bahamas has softened its position a bit and said that look, while we are aware of the evidence, certainly what we have

to do first is make sure that face masks are available for front line workers inclusive of healthcare workers, police officers, immigration officers, ambulance drivers, even people that interact with the public.”

He added: “And while homemade face masks do not provide the same level of protection, they probably provide some protection and they reduce the spread of this disease, which except in extenuating circumstances, is spread by droplets.

“So, we’re suggesting that people should consider wearing even a homemade mask, or if they have access to masks, that would be fine.”

Studies suggest the novel coronavirus can survive on surfaces for a few hours to a few days.

The World Health Organisation says COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks.

While some speculate the virus can be airborne, WHO says “the droplets are too heavy to hang in the air. They quickly fall on floors or surfaces.”

WHO advises: “You can be infected by breathing in the virus if you are within one metre of a person who has COVID-19, or by touching a contaminated surface and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth before washing your hands.”

THERE were long lines outside BPL’s headquarters yesterday as people tried to pay bills in person.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Power and Light suspended its disconnection exercise yesterday, amid long lines outside the company’s headquarters as people tried to pay bills in person.

This came a day after a company official suggested shut off for non-payment would resume on April 1.

BPL had initially suspended disconnections until March 31, to coincide with the expiration of the government’s COVID-19 emergency orders. However, those orders have been extended to April 8.

Yesterday officials said BPL’s disconnection suspension would be extended as well.

This came as scores of people flocked to BPL’s Baillou Hill Road location, queuing for hours outside and some not observing proper social distancing measures, to pay their bills.

When contacted yesterday, Works Minister Desmond Bannister said BPL is “not disconnecting anyone”.

He said claims circulating on social media of BPL crews disconnecting power yesterday morning were not true. “As long as there’s an order in place, BPL is not going to engage in disconnections,” Mr Bannister said. ‘There’s an order in place that indicates that has social distancing policy in place and that requires people to stay home

BPL is not going to disconnect anyone, insists Bannister - a curfew. So it would be hypocritical of us to be disconnecting people at this time.”

The power company sent out a public notice on March 24, stating it would suspend disconnections until March 31 and it was reported that the power company would resume disconnection after that date.

On Tuesday, Quincy Parker, the state-owned energy monopoly’s spokesperson, confirmed to Tribune Business that BPL’s previous statement on the April 1 disconnection resumption “stands”. He added: “Should our policy position change, we’ll advise immediately.”

Hours later, officials had a different tune.

BPL’S CEO Whitney Heastie, who called in to Guardian Radio’s “The

Revolution with Juan McCartney” yesterday, said disconnections are on hold.

He explained: “BPL took the position that it was going to suspend disconnection until March 31 which is the day that we anticipated ...the 24 hour curfew would be lifted and so what we’ve put out on social media and the public was that we would’ve suspended connection until March 31.

“Since then the prime minister and the government of the Bahamas has said that this is going to continue until April 8, so in keeping in, you know, concert with the government, BPL is also following suit and extending the disconnection of customers and so we will not be disconnecting customers as we would have said up to April 1, now that’s going to be continue on.

“......We do realise that we have a business that’s an essential service and we do need funds to be paid and so we’re asking all BPL customers to do the

responsible thing and certainly make payments.”

Mr Heastie explained payments can be through BPL’s website, www.bplco. com, or by calling 3021130. BPL payments can be made at Scotiabank, Royal Bank of Canada, Commonwealth Bank and other major banks. However, an account number must be provided. He mentioned a payment plan is available as well.

The CEO noted that BPL is following the government’s request for the three month deferral of bill payments for all residential customers who’ve either been diagnosed with COVID-19, those who are quarantined or who have been laid off as a result of the pandemic.

Many people who queued at BPL’s headquarters

yesterday, fearful they would face disconnection, complained the online payment portal was not working.

While The Tribune was on site, Mr Parker told reporters to leave, saying the location was private property and the media needed prior permission to gain entry.

Asked about this, Mr Bannister defended the press and said the media has a right to do their work.

“You know in this country, the prime minister has recently defended the right of the news media to report on critical issues and inform the public on those issues and so I will look into that because we certainly will defend the right of the media to be able to report on anything that is critical in this country,” Mr Bannister said.

PREGNANT MOTHER FEARS GOING INTO LABOUR IN ABACO

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

SHANNA Adderley’s worst fear is going into labour in Abaco where conditions remain poor because recovery on the island has been slow in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

Inter-island flights are suspended at this time in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19, preventing Ms Adderley from travelling to Grand Bahama or New Providence where conditions are better to give birth to her second child.

If something goes wrong, the 29-year-old said it is terrifying to know she’ll have no other choice but to deliver her baby on the storm ravaged island.

For Ms Adderley, fears over the respiratory virus

have brought stress to what should be a joyous time in her life.

“My main fear is if the virus does get to Abaco, I get stuck and have to go into labour,” she told The Tribune yesterday.

“I’m not due until July and I had no complications with my last pregnancy, but it’s a possibility that something could go wrong and I won’t be able to leave.”

The young mother has also had to worry about how she will continue living in Abaco if cases are reported there.

There are confirmed cases in Grand Bahama and New Providence. A Bimini woman died on Monday after she was airlifted from that island to New Providence for treatment.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the woman tested positive for COVID-19.

“If the virus does reach here it will spread like wildfire because most people are living in tents and a lot of people still don’t have power and don’t have running water,” said Ms Adderley. “People’s homes are still not fixed and they are trying to slowly fix homes hopefully before hurricane season starts again. But now this virus has everything on halt once more.”

Following Dorian’s passage, Ms Adderley was out of a job. A whiff of hope came in February when the tourism based company she works for restarted. But that was short lived and she is again without a job since the tourism sector has been hardest hit amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

For other pregnant women, COVID-19 has caused isolation and stripped them of events that

most women look forward to before they give birth.

Raquel Pinder said there will be no baby shower or maternity photos for her out of fear of contracting the virus.

“It’s scary that there is a possibility that I could get the virus and possibly pass it on to my baby as well,” Ms Pinder said yesterday.

“It has caused me to be more cautious in my interactions with people. I am somewhat isolated at work, in an office by myself and no longer see customers.

“Because I am high-risk, there are a lot of things I cannot do normally. Now I have to head straight home from work and have little to no contact with anyone so that has been a little difficult as well.

“So I have had to change my surroundings and become more to myself during this whole process.”

She also fears being admitted to hospital for her baby’s birth.

“Being in an area where I don’t know who has what.

Nurses attending to me not knowing who has what is scary. Not having my family to be in hospital with me this being my first child and not having that support system I don’t know how it’s going to be or what’s going to come out of this whole situation.

“Unfortunately I have not had the best experience in pregnancy and on top of that the virus has caused me not to be able to experience a baby shower, no photoshoots or not even getting my room ready because everything is basically closed. So now I have to order everything online and have to deal with freight forwarders and their fees.

It’s a lot to take in, but I am mostly concerned with my

health and the health of my child.”

Precious Bethel, another expectant mother, is also worried about being admitted to hospital. She said her birth plan, which included the presence of her fiancé during labour, will also be abandoned.

“I am just now finding out that he is not going to be able to be a part of my delivery,” Ms Bethel said.

“He won’t even be able to visit me at all.”

But isolation seems to be what’s safer for these pregnant women.

They spoke to this newspaper shortly before Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said community spread is a factor in the surge of COVID-19 cases. He went on to confirm six new cases in the country bringing the number to 21: 18 in New Providence and three in Grand Bahama.

PAGE 6, Thursday, April 2, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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An economic crisis - but don’t forget those at the sharp end AS the grim landmark of the nation’s first death from coronavirus was confirmed yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis tried to make the country realise the scale of the problem facing us.

As he pointed out, it’s a problem facing the whole world. “The world has closed its borders,” he said. And he’s right. But other parts of the world aren’t as dependent on tourism as we are.

When the world can’t travel, there is no tourism.

He laid out clearly the two parts of the problem ahead of us. “We have a medical crisis,” he said, “but soon we will have an economic crisis.”

The first part of that included confirming the diagnosis of coronavirus in the death of Bimini resident Kim JohnsonRolle, and the announcement of six new cases, including a hotspot for cases in eastern New Providence. This is part of the surge that was predicted.

An announcement from the US hasn’t helped the government in that regard – with talk of sending sick patients from cruise ships to the country the ship is registered in. With many cruise ships from the Florida region registered here, goodness knows how many people the country would be expected to take in. We expect that decision will prove politically unpalatable for the countries the crew and passengers hail from – what country would abandon their own citizens at sea? But the threat is there and the government has to spend time addressing it at a time when its concentration would be best placed elsewhere.

The second part saw him acknowledge the rise in joblessness. Gone are

the plans and budgets from November, now we’re sailing far rougher seas than expected. Dr Minnis talked of the need to make major changes to the economy, for us to “change our attitudes, change our behaviour” and that we must make this a “crisis of opportunity”.

That may be true – but it must also be true for all Bahamians.

On Page 3 of today’s paper, read the story of Kamille Adderley. Laid off two weeks ago with only two days’ pay, she is struggling to pay her rent or feed herself and her two-year-old child.

To get assistance is a challenge. She has no way to apply online without a computer, she has no car, there is no public transportation, so how does she get to NIB to get help?

How many others are in the same position as Ms Adderley? How many are falling through the holes in the safety net?

This will hit the poorest the hardest.

Those living pay cheque to pay cheque.

Those without the ability to carry out transactions online. Those who may have limited banking facilities. Those whose only form of transport now is their two feet.

In a moment of brutal honesty, Dr Minnis asked Bahamians to provide him with their ideas. The Prime Minister is forming an advisory group to chart a path forward – we strongly urge him to include representatives among that group who understand the difficulty of those living on the edge.

We absolutely need to chart a path forward for the nation, but in doing so we must ensure that we leave no Bahamian behind.

Another fine mess at BPL IF THERE is one thing that the coronavirus outbreak is showing us, it is where the weaknesses in our society lie.

It might be the failure of an employer to make NIB payments – and with it the failure of NIB to keep a close check on those businesses who have not met their requirements.

It might be the problems of a healthcare network that has to meet the needs of the most inhabited island and those that are sparsely populated.

And yesterday it was a long-standing weakness: Bahamas Power & Light.

After a brief stop in disconnections, BPL announced a resumption yesterday.

With its online payment system down, that led to long lines of people outside BPL trying to put money on their bills

to stop being cut off. Crowds at a time when crowds aren’t needed.

As The Tribune tried to cover this, BPL’s spokesperson, Quincy Parker, told reporters to leave, saying the location was private property and the media needed permission to gain entry.

Not so – as the minister responsible for BPL, Desmond Bannister, quickly confirmed. He went on to press BPL to stop disconnections once more – which they did.

What a mess.

We understand the company’s ability to cope with the loss of income following the coronavirus outbreak – but that is the consequence of living on the edge for so long. It needs to be fixed. For good.

US was the worst prepared for virus EDITOR, The Tribune VIRUSES are older than human existence. In 1918 we had the Spanish flu which infected 500 million and killed 20 million to 50 million people. We had the SARS outbreak of 2002 to 2004. It infected 8098 and killed 774 people from China, other Asian countries, the UK (4) and Toronto, Canada. In 2014 the Ebola outbreak killed 11,315 in 5 African countries and the US. So why wasn’t the world prepared?

Maybe because it was not profitable because they occur over a decade apart, but that can change.

For Caribbean countries

it’s like a Hurricane. Its time of impact is uncertain, but unpreparedness means death.

All countries, capitalist, socialist and communists are unprepared. The US has more cases of Covid-19 than China about 4 times its population. The worst prepared country in the world is the United States because its health care system is profit driven and the most expensive in the world. It is the only advanced nation that has such a system.

Europe, UK , Russia, China, Canada, Japan have a healthcare system that’s government driven.

I think that the shutting down of the economy will

not stop the spread of the pandemic. A lot of people are poor and cannot self isolate. They must hustle food or they will die. I use South Korea as the model.

They are at work. We need to test everyone and then quarantine the infected.

Everyone wears a mask to work and practices proper hygiene. Take in a lot of vitamin C from oranges, etc. Let‘s be sensible.

Every mouth must be fed.

This current method will lead to social upheaval like what is starting to occur in Italy or worse.

BRIAN E PLUMMER Nassau, March 30, 2020.

So important to teach tech EDITOR, The Tribune BAHAMIANS, we are living in unprecedented times. Tuesday, March 24th. was our first day of 24hr lock down here in Nassau and it’s just one of the extreme but necessary measures to prevent the spread of this Coronavirus.

For myself and others, it was my first full day home in a long time. My 7-yearold daughter reminded me of such when she woke up and said, “Dad you can’t go out to work today because of the Coronavirus. So you’re going to be stuck at home with me all day.

Thank God!” I just looked at her and smiled.

So what do you do when you are stuck home with your kid all day…? Well after a day of maintaining a school-like atmosphere, you find some extracurricular activities. Being an IT professional and an involved parent, finding a way to healthily use technology vs being used by it, was crucial. Because of this, we created a to-do list: • Create a secure Kids E-mail account • Keyboarding practice (to learn how to type quickly) • YouTube and Online learning videos We first created a secure E-mail account. A secure E-mail account gives a kid the privilege of having E-mail but protects her from junk or unwanted mail. Essentially, parents or

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net guardians have to create a friends and family list and approve whatever messages are sent or received. A few good options to do this are: 4 Great E-mail Providers for Kids are: ZillaMail, KidsEmail, Zoobuh, and TacoMail All of these are good options and most are free. I chose to use Zoobuh. It has a minor cost associated, but I used this service previously. Safe access to E-mail will no doubt contribute to her overall development.

Next, I searched for a software to help her learn how to type. This is something I did with my son (who’s an adult now); it made the world of difference in completing assignments and projects much faster. There are many good keyboarding tools and games out there and most of them are free.

So a quick Google search will give you lots of options.

I chose a software called Key Blaze. The proper use of the keyboard is an import skill. Firstly, proper typing can protect ones hand and fingers from typing related disease like the carpal tunnel syndrome.

Secondly, it enables you to be proficient. This is very useful while searching the internet and typing documents.

Our final tech activity was YouTube. You can imagine the level of excitement here. We created a YouTube channel for her to practice her communication and self-expression.

There are lots of good help notes on Google that can explain how to do this so here I want us to look at some of the benefits. Video production requires good communication, research and technical skills. This is a motivator. In order to use this tool effectively, you have to read extensively, research your material and organize your presentation in order to produce a good video. These are important skills that will transform any child’s development.

The YouTube channel is public but any communication to the channel comes to me first. The idea is that she would use the channel to share positive material with her peers.

Teaching a child how to use technology properly is important. As a parent, if you aren’t intentional about helping your children use technology the right way, society will easily influence them on the wrong way.

During my early years as a computer technician here in Nassau, I experienced this first hand. Taking the time to teach a child proper use of technology can make the difference.

VALETINO MUNROE Nassau, March, 2020

Acting responsibly EDITOR, The Tribune Re: Strike ‘happy medium’ over virus lockdown. – The Tribune, Business, 26 March, 2020.

Unlike ORG, our government is acting in an enlightened and responsible manner, for once. Apart from prayer, there is only one way currently known to buy time and slow the spread of Covid-19, and that is by a lengthy and complete lockdown. As agonizing as a disciplined

lockdown is (think Singapore) for so many very badly hurting people and businesses, it is not something that can be done piecemeal as a ‘happy medium’. ( Hong Kong tried the ‘happy medium’ approach for a short time and saw a frightening resurgence of Covid-19).

The Bahamas may soon be dealing with a dramatic surge or nation-wide pandemic health crisis.

We must decide if we will pay attention primarily to our healthcare

providers and even a few government officials (though both are known to be far from infallible), or listen to people with mainly business interests. Many lives could depend on the right decision.

However, if one is ill and rejects present best medical practices, one can always contact a business person for advice and health care.

KEN W. KNOWLES, M.D. Nassau March 28, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 2, 2020, PAGE 7

HUNT FOR MAN MISSING AT SEA FOR A WEEK

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

GOSHON FOX, left, and Marvinique Burrows outside court yesterday.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

Pair accused of firearm charges

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A MAN and woman were arraigned in court yesterday on six firearm and ammunition charges.

Goshon Fox, 22, and Marvinique Burrows, 20, appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt charged with two counts of importing firearms and another two counts of importing ammunition.

The two were also charged with conspiracy to import firearms into the country and violating the national curfew.

Both defendants denied all of the charges and the matter was adjourned to November 10-12 for trial.

ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE

TREMAYNE Moss yesterday.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A 25-YEAR-OLD Freeport man was charged with attempted murder, among other charges, in a Grand Bahama court yesterday.

Tremayne Moss, 25, of Woods Rogers Drive, appeared before Magistrate Charlton Smith.

He was not required to enter a plea to the attempted murder charge, which is connected to a matter that allegedly occurred on March 13.

The case is expected to proceed by a voluntary bill of indictment and was adjourned to May 26.

Moss was also charged with violating his bail conditions and causing public terror. He pleaded guilty to both charges and was convicted and sentenced to three months in prison on each count, to run concurrently.

He was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

It is alleged Fox and Burrows imported one chrome Black Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol on March 27, without having a licence to possess the weapon.

It is further alleged the defendants imported one chrome Black Smith & Wesson .45 pistol on that same day.

Fox and Burrows were also accused of importing 16 live rounds of ammunition and another five live rounds of ammunition for the .45 pistol.

The defendants were further charged with conspiring together to commit the offences and for violating the national curfew by

19TH MURDER OF YEAR POLICE are investigating a shooting death on Andros. Details were scant up to press time, however police said a man’s body was found in the Mar’s Bay settlement yesterday afternoon with apparent gunshot injuries. Police said more information would be released as it became available. This marks the 19th murder this year, according to The Tribune’s records.

being in the area of Jet Aviation during curfew hours.

Fox and Burrows were represented by Damian Gomez, QC, and attorney Donna Major respectively.

During the arraignment, Mr Gomez told the judge that the attorneys had prepared emergency bail applications and requested both defendants be remanded to the Central Police Station.

Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt granted the lawyers’ request, however she reminded them that if their clients’ applications were not heard, both Fox and Burrows would be remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDCS).

RELATIVES of an Andros man who has been missing at sea for a week are pleading for people to come forward with information to assist police with their investigation.

Speaking to The Tribune yesterday, Cicely Armbrister, wife of missing fisherman Dwyane Armbrister, 54, said he was last seen on Thursday, March 26 with another man, who is also missing.

Mr Armbrister is described as having a dark complexion, slim build and is 5’7”.

“He’s been missing now like six days and we haven’t heard anything,” his wife said.

Mrs Armbrister said her husband went aboard a local ship to catch conch and fish off Mangrove Cay, Andros with another native, Peter Taylor.

The men, she added, were expected to return to the “mothership” after catching their fish. But, according to Mrs Armbrister, the men never did, and no one has seen them since.

She told The Tribune: “He went fishing way before (that Thursday) but we found out that he was missing that last week Thursday. It was two persons that were in the dinghy. My husband along with his keep-up man. The mothership returned back home in Mangrove Cay that Saturday. I was here in New Providence (when I heard the news). They called me over the phone.”

Describing the moment the family realised Mr Armbrister was missing, a close relative, who did not want to be named, told The Tribune: “On the 26th of March, that would’ve been a Thursday, I received information that his fishing boat went out from the main fishing boat and they never returned to the big boat.

“Since that time, the big boat has now returned to their home base in

Mangrove Cay as of Saturday - that would’ve been the 28th with all the other dinghy boats attached and all of the crew members accounted for. “…Up until now, this very moment we’re here and we have had searches.

(The family) funded an air surveillance to do an aerial search of the area but that has turned up north and I am concerned.

“They would’ve only had like a gallon of water in that boat, limited snacks. I don’t think they had any additional clothing. It’s an open 17-foot Boston whaler, with a 40-horse power engine.”

Mr Armbrister’s family members said the matter was reported to police and other relevant authorities, who told them officials will launch an investigation.

Noting Mr Armbrister to be “a seasoned fisherman,” relatives said it is very unusual that no one knew his whereabouts. “He’s a certified deep-sea diver. This ain’t something new. He’s been doing this all his life,” his wife said.

Meanwhile, another relative added: “When it came to the sea, he knew the sea.

He been going there for quite some time (sic). “He wasn’t the perfect person.

He had his flaws and his issues, but he was hardworking, the most hardest working person I know. He was dedicated to the sea and everything but I’m praying that he is alive and well.”

Mr Armbrister’s relatives said everyone is affected by the whole ordeal and they just want him to return home safely. “We know the coronavirus is priority, but these other lives have to matter too,” a relative said.

Meanwhile, his wife added: “There’s other mother ships that are out there, but they might’ve been aboard one of those ships…I’m just hoping that they end up getting picked up by somebody else.”

A spokesman for the Royal Bahamas Police Force confirmed an investigation is ongoing into the matter and officers are still searching for the men.

PAGE 8, Thursday, April 2, 2020

I

T HAPPENS every day now, around midday.

What pops up on the television screen is a briefing by a senior elected official full of useful, relevant information backed up by charts and graphs and a sense of honest credibility.

The backdrop is not a bunch of uncomfortable looking experts and consultants looking at their shoes as the speaker at the lectern misspeaks or lies.

The experts in this setting are spaced an appropriately socially distanced six feet apart on a makeshift lectern. So are the journalists who ask blunt questions and receive frank, direct answers.

The setting is a large room in the statehouse in Albany, New York. And the speaker is a man who has emerged in this season of pandemic panic and cultural chaos as “America’s Governor”.

The speaker is the Empire State’s current governor and son of a past governor. It is Andrew Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo is the eldest son of Mario Cuomo, who once held statewide elective office in New York state for 20 straight years. The last 12 of those years were as governor, ending in 1995 after he was defeated in the Republican Revolution of the previous November.

Mario Cuomo was called “Hamlet on the Hudson” because he never could completely commit to running for president either in 1988, when he would have almost certainly lost to George H W Bush, or in 1992, when he might have beaten Bush.

THE TRIBUNE

Like father, like son - Cuomo becoming the man to watch

STATESIDE with Charlie Harper Andrew Cuomo is now in his own third term as New York’s governor, having first been elected in 2010.

Getting his start in politics as his father’s campaign manager, Andrew is more pragmatic and centrist than his dad and perhaps even more potent politically.

Until the past couple of weeks, no one had really much speculated on the notion of Andrew for president. But he is doing such an outstanding job in his daily coronavirus briefings and general comportment that, in this time of profound executive leadership deficit in the US, people are starting to seriously take notice. He has become a TV star.

Conveniently, younger brother Chris Cuomo is already a TV star, hosting a weeknight talk show on CNN that regularly eviscerates the incumbent American president. Chris Cuomo has just announced he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Andrew Cuomo speaks, jokes and spars with the local press corps for about an hour at lunchtime. He is clearly on top of the mass of often confusing information

that threatens overload for anyone trying to conscientiously get their mind around this particularly scary pandemic.

Cuomo speaks of trends, of relevant facts and figures such as current hospitalizations and fatalities in America’s hardest hit state, and of forwardlooking measures he is implementing to deal with the hopefully soon-upcoming “apex of the crisis”.

The governor is clear and articulate.

He speaks dispassionately about some of President Trump’s decisions and statements. Cuomo is, simply, objective and factual at a time when both are desperately needed.

Despite the occasional courtesy mutually extended by these longstanding antagonists, Trump and Cuomo clearly represent different perspectives, especially on the role of government.

On available evidence, Cuomo’s big government stance is preferable, particularly during a time when citizens everywhere are looking for help.

Over the weekend, New York’s chief executive

spoke of Sunday dinners in his emphatically ItalianAmerican family, presided over by his parents, who were famously devoted to each other for the span of a 60-year marriage. The son somewhat ruefully noted at one point that he is “not married now”.

Andrew Cuomo was married for 15 years to one of Bobby Kennedy’s daughters. For Democrats, it was almost a Shakespearean union of powerful political houses. The marriage didn’t last, but his political career survived the divorce.

Cuomo then maintained a “partnership” with a TV chef for another 15 years, but that too has apparently foundered.

In earning the title of America’s Governor at a time of missing executive inspiration in the nation’s capital, Cuomo follows in the once-impressive footsteps of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose determination and grit after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre inspired the country and earned Rudy the title of America’s Mayor.

Until virtually disappearing from public view during Trump’s impeachment hearings and exoneration, Giuliani was best known recently as the craven confederate of the president, digging desperately in Ukraine and elsewhere for muck that would stick to likely November opponent Joe Biden.

ANDREW Cuomo is in his third term as New York’s governor But now New York is giving the country another new hero. Its governor is clear and tough and smart and honest. It’s too late for Cuomo to take on the fatuous Trump at November’s ballot box, though Trump has already begun speculating about it to sew dissension among his opponents. But there’s plenty of room on the national stage for Cuomo to become an American hero.

And there might be room on the Democratic convention stage for Andrew Cuomo this summer, too

– assuming the coronavirus pandemic has abated sufficiently that there is a convention. After all, Cuomo’s father got his first big national political break at the 1984 Democratic national convention, where his keynote address was just about the only positive thing that happened to the Democrats in a year when Ronald Reagan waltzed to easy re-election.

If there is a Democratic convention this year, and if Cuomo speaks, maybe the results will be different this time.

TRUMP’S RATINGS KEEP ON SOARING

TRUMP’S performance in office has risen to the highest levels of his presidency

THE US, like most of the rest of the world, is feeling and reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. People are scared. And in a period of national crisis like this one, approval ratings often rise for whomever sits in the White House.

Donald Trump is no exception. Approval for his performance in office, notwithstanding his many intentional and inadvertent errors in handling the crisis, has soared to the highest levels of his presidency.

A recent survey jointly conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post revealed that 48 percent of respondents approve his job performance, while 46 percent disapprove.

This is the first time since he was inaugurated in 2017 that Trump’s approval rating is higher than disapproval.

Recent history backs up the theory that crisis begets higher approval ratings for the president. After 9/11, George W Bush’s approval rating jumped from 55 percent to 86 percent.

And within two months of launching the Gulf War in 1991, Bush’s father’s positive rating reached 90 percent.

This has to be good

news for Trump, who has appeared to at least try to stay mostly on message and avoid the pettiness that is clearly his default posture.

There have, naturally, been exceptions. Trump has been embroiled in a public spat with popular Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, who accused his administration of discouraging suppliers from sending needed medical equipment to hard-hit Detroit, a long-time Democratic stronghold, and other Michigan cities.

Trump has also lashed out at beleaguered Washington governor Jay Inslee, another Democrat.

Trump won’t win Washington in November, but he will probably need to carry Michigan to get re-elected.

He has recently begun to refer to himself as a wartime president.

Is this part of an effort to inspire the country to rally around and listen to the health experts and substitute for its fears an optimism for a quick recovery from the pandemic?

Let’s give the president the benefit of the doubt and say yes.

But Trump probably also wants to get the same crisisrelated approval surge the Bushes did.

...AND NO RIVALS IN SIGHT HOWEVER cynical, petty, careless or uniformed Trump may appear to be on his daily TV appearances, the fact remains he’s out front and centre before the country every day. What of his rivals?

Joe Biden is home in Delaware. Every so often, there is a story about how his advisers are scheming to get his name out in the public consciousness. But since he isn’t in the Senate anymore and lacks an obvious platform for offering his views on the national health crisis, neither he nor his campaign is getting much traction.

Bernie Sanders, still in

the race, is at least in the Senate. But there’s little to be gained for any politician in opposing giant funding bills or other measures before Congress that are designed to help voters and small businesses. Sanders isn’t making many headlines, either.

This is important. Trump is gaining a significant advantage with his daily press conferences.

Just another reason for the Democrats to hope the crisis ends in time for them to recover some momentum as the presidential election campaign gets real in the Fall.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 2, 2020, PAGE 9

BAHAMIAN marine scientist, Dr Krista Sherman releasing a tagged Nassau grouper in Long Island as a part of her research into the nation’s grouper population.

Photo: Shane Gross for the Perry Institute of Marine Science

A NEWLY released research study is shedding more light on the Nassau grouper in hopes of helping the nation meet its conservation goals for a critically endangered species that is as important to the economy as it is to ecology.

The research, led by a Bahamian marine scientist, was published in the latest edition of Frontiers in Marine Science.

“Grouper is really important for us in The Bahamas through the value it provides for fisheries, food security and in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems. For that reason, we need to try and understand as much as we can about how our grouper populations are doing,” said Dr Krista Sherman, senior scientist at the Perry Institute of Marine Science (PIMS).

Slow growth rates and predictable breeding places and times make the Nassau grouper extremely vulnerable to overfishing. It is commercially extinct in many areas and listed on the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List of threatened species.

“We need to understand how populations are connected, how they’ve changed, how our activities as humans have altered or changed those populations and then the other component is understanding how those fish are using the habitats that are available to them and how they are getting from reefs to the areas where they spawn (or breed) and back again,” said Dr Sherman.

According to a press release, the study principally assessed genetic differences in Nassau grouper sampled through the country and explored migration patterns to and from an active breeding site from 2014 to 2017 to learn more about the health and population structure of remaining stocks.

The research team included scientists from PIMS, the University of Exeter, Shedd Aquarium, Bahamas National Trust and Field Lab Consulting.

Researchers compared 96 DNA samples taken from Nassau grouper from Abaco, Andros, New Providence, Eleuthera, Exuma, Long Island, Ragged Island, Great Inagua and the fish spawning aggregation (FSA) site known as ‘Hail Mary’ in the central Bahamas.

To collect information about fish migration patterns and habitat use, 103 Nassau groupers were externally tagged, 45 of which were implanted with transmitters.

Researchers found there were three genetic clusters of Bahamian Nassau grouper.

“Based on the data we’ve amassed, groupers from Exuma and Long Island are different from the rest of the areas we have sampled and genetically sequenced so far. This is important because we can’t afford to lose those stocks. We need to manage them differently or better, so we don’t lose them,” said Dr Sherman.

“Exuma and Long Island have different genetic types from the rest of The Bahamas. We need to figure out why those differences exist. We have several theories on what may be potentially influencing that, one is environmental selection or adaptation to environmental variables.

Migration patterns, larval dispersal and survival may also be different. It seems that there are multiple processes coming into play.”

The Nassau grouper attains sexual maturity between four to seven-years old, leaving their home reefs to travel to specific locations to spawn during the full moon phase in winter months when water

Working hard to save the grouper temperatures are cooler.

Round-trip migration distances covered by Nassau grouper in The Bahamas can exceed 186 miles, surpassing distances reported for fish in the Cayman Islands and Belize.

However, many of the Nassau grouper’s breeding sites have been drastically reduced or completely wiped out over the years.

“We have up to 40 sites that have been reported.

We haven’t been able to verify all with in-water surveys, but a lot of them actually are greatly reduced from what historic information suggests in terms of abundances of fish at these sites,” said Dr Sherman.

“For example, Cat Cay which was one of the first spawning sites reported for The Bahamas had recorded estimates ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 fish. That site has collapsed.

We haven’t seen grouper aggregating there for a long time.”

She added: “High Cay in Andros is another example where historically there used to be thousands of fish there and it has been reduced. The last time we were out there we did not see spawning aggregations at High Cay. There are other sites we have been monitoring. Fish are still aggregating but the numbers range from hundreds to thousands versus thousands to tens of thousands of individuals. Many of these spawning sites have been severely overfished to the point where there are a lot fewer fish or to where they are no longer active.”

Scientists say this research highlights the importance of understanding the reproductive output of active fish spawning sites as well as the movement patterns of Nassau grouper, in order to design effective marine protected areas.

Tagging data showed some Nassau grouper travelled from the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park (a no-take marine protected area) to breed at the Hail Mary FSA, while genetic data revealed that Nassau grouper from other islands are using that very same breeding site in the central Bahamas.

“Identifying where all active FSAs are, the exact locations Nassau grouper migrate from to participate in annual spawning events, and patterns of larval dispersal and recruitment will be essential to the long-term protection and sustainable exploitation of this species,” the study states.

PAGE 10, Thursday, April 2, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

A

CCORDING to health officials we are in the COVID-19 surge in The Bahamas. There is community spread and hotspots. It will be some time before we know the full health toll on the country from the deadly virus, including the number of deaths.

Health officials are working assiduously to contain the spread through physical distancing, curfews, contact tracing and enforcement of regulations by members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and private businesses.

Those leaders who successfully combat a crisis, emergency or war are those who go big, who act boldly and decisively, often against the public sentiment and opinion of the moment and often at peril to their political survival.

Those who tend to fail and falter are the panderers, the indecisive, the ambivalent and those who needlessly temporize when quick actions and decisions are required.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and his administration must go big and remain decisive in addressing the complex health, economic and social challenges posed

by COVID-19. There are classic historical antecedents which offer counsel.

By 1587 in England, Queen Elizabeth I’s (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) intelligence network and military advisers warned that King Philip II of Spain was readying an invasion with an Armada determined to conquer England and violently depose her from the throne.

England was no match for Spain. The former was financially straddled and had fewer ships. Some of Elizabeth’s advisers counselled the monarch to launch a pre-emptive strike to buy time. Others warned of the risk of such a strike, including incurring the greater fury of Philip.

She weighed the options.

The Virgin Queen, the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor, ordered Sir Francis Drake to take pre-emptive action against Spain. Sailing from Plymouth with a relatively small fleet, Drake surprised the Spanish at Cadiz.

He destroyed several dozen vessels and over 10,000 tons of supplies.

The surprise attack delayed the launch of the Armada and purchased Elizabeth and England time to boost defences and to prepare for certain attack.

My advice is: Go big, Prime Minister, go big FRONT PORCH

BY SIMON AGILE The English used the time well. The Royal Navy assembled a smaller but more agile fleet of warships and armed merchant vessels.

England went on to defeat the Spanish Armada because of the decisiveness of Elizabeth, the agility of its vessels and other measures. (By England’s good fortune the Armada was also ravaged by a tremendous storm as it made its way towards the English Channel.)

Leaders today have to sense the coming storm and the many twists and turns ahead, much as a medical

doctor and surgeon must be able to make quick and unexpected decisions to save a patient.

In the state of Ohio in the United States, the mildmannered and soft-spoken Republican Governor Mike Dewine was initially derided by some for overreaching and supposedly acting too quickly as news of the novel coronavirus began its deadly march.

He cancelled various high-profile public events much to the chagrin of some businessmen, Republican colleagues and state and national Democrats. But he did not waver and pushed his health officials to ramp up protective measures.

Dewine proved right in his analysis and actions, while other governors and federal officials temporized and engaged in magical thinking, their heads buried in the proverbial sand about the seriousness of the looming health threat.

With limited resources, partial information and limited time Dr. Minnis is going to have to remain agile and to make tough decisions as the surge and the spread continue.

He will have to go big and make decisions in the interest of the greater good, which is an easy mantra but more difficult when faced with tough moral and ethical choices.

Thankfully, because of the massive investment in health care infrastructure during FNM Governments led by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, the country has a number of facilities that may prove critical at this time.

Mr. Ingraham was fortunate to have a number of capable health ministers including: Dame Ivy Dumont, the late Theresa Moxey Ingraham, Dr. Ronald Knowles and Dr. Hubert Minnis.

Opposition Leader Philip Brave Davis still seems caught off guard, pandering and unserious, though he has risen to the occasion at moments. This virus and the complex of challenges ahead will not succumb to litigation like tactics.

The Opposition has an essential role to play in our parliamentary democracy, especially during times of crisis. Perhaps Mr. Davis will use this as a moment for growth.

It is unfortunate but no longer surprising that some appear upset and given to silly distraction and outbursts because Dr. Minnis is being offered support during this crises.

Thankfully, these individuals are in the minority as only the most churlish, ungracious and self-serving would not support a nation’s leader in a time of crisis,

especially one as deadly as the COVID-19 threat.

ACTIONS Crises require deeds, appropriate words and authenticity from a leader to rally troops and citizens.

On August 9, 1588, Elizabeth gave her brief but now famous “The Speech to the Troops at Tilbury” where she addressed land forces gathered to repel the approaching Spanish Forces.

Leaving the safety of London, she travelled to the Essex port and thundered: “My loving people. We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people.

“Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and

my blood, even in the dust.”

Dr Minnis is not a natural orator nor is Governor Dewine. But the syntax needed now is not Churchillian eloquence but clear, direct, consistent and authentic communication and resolve, which both men are demonstrating.

The incumbent administration should provide the public with as much information as possible with regard to the need for certain confidentiality.

In his press conference yesterday the prime minister started to brace the nation and to prepare for the economic hardship and challenges ahead.

He noted: “To find ways to stimulate our economy now and in order to create a masterplan to rebuild our economy and to promote our social development, I will convene a high-level group of economic and others experts to provide concrete ideas and plans to the Government of The Bahamas.

“This group will help us to chart the way forward for our national, economic and social recovery.”

In getting the country through the present moment and to relaunch our economy, Hubert Minnis will have to go big and the country will have to reimagine the economic and social fabric of The Bahamas.

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Thursday, April 2, 2020, PAGE 11

‘How does it end? And people want answers’ NEW YORK Associated Press NEW York authorities rushed to bring in an army of medical volunteers yesterday as the statewide death toll from the coronavirus doubled in 72 hours to more than 1,900 and the wail of ambulances in the otherwise eerily quiet streets of the city became the heartbreaking soundtrack of the crisis.

As hot spots flared around the US in places like New Orleans and Southern California, the nation’s biggest city was the hardest hit of them all, with bodies loaded onto refrigerated morgue trucks by gurney and forklift outside overwhelmed hospitals, in full view of passing motorists.

“It’s like a battlefield behind your home,” said 33-year-old Emma Sorza, who could hear the sirens from severely swamped Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.

And the worst is yet to come.

“How does it end? And people want answers,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “I want answers. The answer is nobody knows for sure.”

A new report from the United

A BODY is moved in New York yesterday Nations said the global economy could shrink by almost 1% this year instead of growing at a projected 2.5%.

Under growing pressure, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis belatedly joined his counterparts in more than 30 states in issuing a statewide stay-home order, taking action after conferring with fellow Republican Trump. The governors of Pennsylvania and Nevada, both Democrats, and Mississippi’s

3,000 SAILORS TO LEAVE VIRUS SHIP WASHINGTON Associated Press

NEARLY 3,000 sailors aboard a US aircraft carrier where the coronavirus has spread will be taken off the ship by tomorrow, Navy officials said yesterday as they struggle to quarantine crew members in the face of an outbreak.

So far, fewer than 100 of the nearly 5,000 sailors assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, now docked in Guam, have tested positive for the virus, but the Navy is moving sailors into various facilities and probably will begin using hotel rooms in the coming days. Navy leaders are talking with government officials in the US territory to identify rooms for the crew members.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, however, made it clear that while several thousand will leave the ship, other sailors will remain on board in order to continue to protect the ship and run critical systems.

“We cannot and will not

remove all sailors from the ship,” Modly told Pentagon reporters. He said officials will send as many sailors off the ship as possible while still maintaining safety. He said about 1,000 have gone ashore, and that number will grow to at least 2,700 in a couple of days.

Modly and Adm. Michael Gilday, the chief of naval operations, declined to say how long the ship will be sidelined. But if crew members are required to be quarantined for 14 days, on a rotational basis, the Roosevelt could be out of duty for weeks. The Navy leaders said that they are trying to track down any sailors who came in contact with those now ill and place them in quarantine. They said almost 1,300 sailors have been tested, and as of Wednesday, nearly 600 of those tests came back negative. Officials are awaiting more results and more testing.

The “long pole in the tent,” said Gilday, is getting results more quickly. At this point, no sailors with the virus are hospitalized.

UK’S PM UNDER FIRE FOR LOW TESTING LONDON Associated Press

BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson was under fire yesterday for failing to keep its promise to increase the amount of testing being done for COVID-19, even as the country saw its biggest day-to-day rise yet in deaths among people with the virus, to 2,352.

Richard Horton, editor of medical journal The Lancet, said Britain’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis was “the most serious science policy failure in a generation.”

In a tweet, he noted that England’s deputy chief medical officer said last week that “‘there comes a point in a pandemic where

that (testing) is not an appropriate intervention.”

“Now (testing is) a priority,” Horton said. “Public message: utter confusion.”

Like some other countries, the UK has restricted testing to hospitalised patients, leaving people with milder symptoms unsure whether they have had the virus. Many scientists say wider testing -- especially of health care staff -- would allow medics who are off work with symptoms to return if they are negative, and would give a better picture of how the virus spreads.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick conceded that “we do need to go further and we need to do that faster.”

UN CLIMATE SUMMIT POSTPONED UNTIL 2021 BECAUSE OF COVID-19 LONDON Associated Press THIS year’s United Nations global climate summit is being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, host country Britain said yesterday.

The UK government said the meeting, due to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, in November, will now be held next year at a date still to be determined.

The government said in

a statement that “in light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 in November 2020 is no longer possible.” The meeting is formally known as the 26th Conference of the Parties.

The decision was made by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Britain and Italy, which had been due to host some preparatory events.

GOP governor took similar steps.

In a remarkable turnabout, rich economies where virus cases have exploded are welcoming help from less wealthy ones. Russia sent medical equipment and masks to the United States. Cuba supplied doctors to France. Turkey dispatched protective gear and disinfectant to Italy and Spain.

Worldwide, more than 900,000 people have been infected and over 45,000 have died, according to a

tally kept by Johns Hopkins University, though the real figures are believed to be much higher because of testing shortages, differences in counting the dead and large numbers of mild cases that have gone unreported.

The US recorded about 210,000 infections and about 4,600 deaths, with New York City accounting for about one out of four dead.

More than 80,000 people have volunteered as medical reinforcements in New York, including recent retirees, health care professionals taking a break from their regular jobs and people between gigs.

Few have made it into the field yet, as authorities vet and figure out how to use them, but hospitals are expected to begin bringing them in later this week.

Those who have hit the ground already, many brought in by staffing agencies, found a hospital system being driven to the breaking point.

“It’s hard when you lose patients.

It’s hard when you have to tell the family members: ‘I’m sorry, but we did everything that we could,’” said nurse Katherine Ramos, of Cape Coral, Florida.

SIX-WEEK-OLD BABY ‘THE YOUNGEST FATALITY’ A SIX-WEEK-OLD baby in Connecticut has died from coronavirus and is believed to be the youngest confirmed fatality from the illness anywhere in the world. The infant was taken to the hospital unresponsive last week and could not be revived.

The death was announced yesterday by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont.

He tweeted: “It is with heartbreaking sadness today that we can confirm the first pediatric fatality in Connecticut linked to #COVID-19. A 6-week-old newborn from the Hartford area was brought unresponsive to a hospital late last week and could not be revived.

“This is a virus that attacks our most fragile without mercy. This also stresses the importance of staying home and limiting exposure to other people.

Your life and the lives of others could literally depend on it. Our prayers are with the family at this difficult time.”

PAGE 12, Thursday, April 2, 2020

By GEORGE WITTEMYER Associate professor of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University COVID-19 is one of countless emerging infectious diseases that are zoonotic, meaning they originate in animals. About 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, accounting for billions of illnesses and millions of deaths annually across the globe.

When these diseases spill over to humans, the cause frequently is human behaviours, including habitat destruction and the multibillion-dollar international wildlife trade – the latter being the suspected source of the novel coronavirus.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments to impose severe restrictions, such as social distancing, that will have massive economic costs.

But there has been less discussion about identifying and changing behaviours that contribute to the emergence of zoonotic diseases.

As a conservation biologist, I believe this outbreak demonstrates the urgent need to end the global wildlife trade.

As many now know, the COVID-19 coronavirus is one of a family of coronaviruses commonly found in bats. It is suspected to have passed through a mammal, perhaps pangolins – the most-trafficked animal on the planet – before jumping to humans.

The virus’s spillover to humans is believed to have occurred in a so-called wet market in China. At these markets, live, wild-caught animals, farm-raised wild species and livestock frequently intermingle in conditions that are unsanitary and highly stressful for the animals. These circumstances are ripe for infection and spillover.

The current outbreak is just the latest example of viruses jumping from animals to humans. HIV is perhaps the most infamous example: It originated from chimps in central Africa and still kills hundreds of thousands of people annually. It likely jumped to humans through consumption of bushmeat, or meat from wildlife, which is also the likely origin of several Ebola outbreaks.

PREDICT, a U.S.-funded nonprofit, suggests there are thousands of viral species circulating in birds and mammals that pose a direct risk to humans.

Trade in wildlife has decimated populations and species for millennia and is one of the five key drivers of wildlife declines. People hunt and deal in animals and animal parts for food, medicine and other uses.

This commerce has an estimated value of $18 billion annually just in China, which is believed to be the largest market globally for such products.

My own work focuses on African and Asian elephants, which are severely threatened by the wildlife trade. Demand for elephant ivory has caused the deaths of more than 100,000 elephants in the last 15 years.

Conservationists have been working for years to end the wildlife trade or enforce strict regulations to ensure that it is conducted in ways that do not threaten species’ survival. Initially, the focus was on stemming the decline of threatened species. But today it is evident that this trade also harms humans.

For example, conservation organizations estimate that more than 100 rangers

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COVID-19 could spell the end for the global trade in wildlife are killed protecting wildlife every year, often by poachers and armed militias targeting high-value species such as rhinos and elephants. Violence associated with the wildlife trade affects local communities, which typically are poor and rural.

The wildlife trade’s disease implications have received less popular attention over the past decade. This may be because bushmeat trade and consumption targets less-charismatic species, provides a key protein source in some communities and is a driver of economic activity in some remote rural areas.

In China, wild animal sales and consumption are deeply embedded culturally and represent an influential economic sector. Chinese authorities see them as a key revenue generator for impoverished rural communities, and have promoted national policies that encourage the trade despite its risks.

In 2002-2003, severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS – a disease caused by a zoonotic coronavirus transmitted through live wildlife markets – emerged in China and spread to 26 countries. Then as now, bats were a likely source.

In response, the Chinese government enacted strict regulations designed to end wildlife trade and its associated risks. But policies later were weakened under cultural and economic pressure.

Now repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic are driving faster, stronger reforms. China has announced a temporary ban on all wildlife trade and a permanent ban on wildlife trade for food. Vietnam’s prime minister has proposed a similar ban, and other neighbouring countries are under pressure to follow this lead.

Conservation scientists are hearing rumours that wildlife markets on China’s borders – which often sell endangered species whose sale is banned within China – are collapsing as the spread of coronavirus cuts into tourism and related commerce. Similarly, there are reports that in Africa, trade in pangolin and other wildlife products is shrinking in response to coronavirus fears.

However, I worry that these changes won’t last. The Chinese government has already stated that its initial bans on medicinal wildlife products and wildlife products for non-consumption are temporary and will be relaxed in the future.

This is not sufficient. In my view, terminating the damaging and dangerous trade in wildlife will require concerted global pressure on the governments that allow it, plus internal campaigns to help end the demand that drives such trade. Without cultural change, the likely outcomes will be relaxed bans or an expansion of illegal wildlife trafficking.

Basketball star Yao Ming has campaigned for over a decade to dissuade Chinese consumers from buying wildlife products.

Africa has borne the greatest costs from the illegal wildlife trade, which has ravaged its natural resources and fuelled insecurity. A pandemic-driven global recession and cessation of tourism will

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drastically reduce income in wildlife-related industries. Poaching will likely increase, potentially for international trade, but also for local bushmeat markets.

And falling tourism revenues will undercut local support for protecting wild animals.

On top of this, if COVID19 spreads across the continent, Africa could also suffer major losses of human life from a pandemic

SMUGGLED leopard skin and ivory seized at New Orleans International Airport

that could have started in an illegally traded African pangolin.

Like other disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic offers an opportunity to implement solutions that will ultimately benefit humans and the planet. I hope one result is that nations join together to end the costly trade and consumption of wildlife.

theconversation.com

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Thursday, April 2, 2020, PAGE 13

‘The Last Dance’ look at Jordan’s last title set to start on April 19

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer THE documentary looking at Michael Jordan’s last championship season with the Chicago Bulls is set for release nearly two months sooner than expected with no sports to air due to the coronavirus pandemic.

ESPN and Netflix announced on Tuesday that the 10-part documentary series called “The Last Dance” will air next month will run in the US over five consecutive Sunday nights starting April 19 and running through May 17.

There will be two hour-long episodes on each of those nights, airing back-to-back at 9pm and 10pm Eastern.

ESPN was originally planning to release the documentary in June, when this season’s NBA Finals were to be played but those plans were accelerated.

“April 19th can’t come fast enough. I CAN NOT WAIT!!”

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James tweeted upon hearing news of the series’ long-awaited release.

The series will include neverbefore-seen footage from that season, one where the team chased its sixth championship in a span of eight years.

“As society navigates this time without live sports, viewers are still looking to the sports world to escape and enjoy a collective experience,” ESPN said in a statement.

“We’ve heard the calls from fans asking us to move up the release date for this series, and we’re happy to announce that we’ve been able to accelerate the production schedule to do just that.”

The documentary is nearly a quarter-century in the making. It was born in the fall of 1997 when Jordan, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and coach Phil Jackson allowed an NBA Entertainment film crew permission to follow the team all season.

ESPN said the series includes “extensive profiles of Jordan’s key teammates including Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Steve Kerr,” along with Jackson.

“Michael Jordan and the ‘90s Bulls weren’t just sports

IN this February 6, 1988, photo, Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan dunks during the slam-dunk competition of the NBA All-Star weekend in Chicago. Jordan left the old Chicago Stadium that night with the trophy. To this day, many believe Wilkins was the rightful winner.

(AP Photo/John Swart) superstars, they were a global phenomenon,” said Jason Hehir, who directed the series. “... For nearly three years, we searched far and wide to present the definitive story

of an era-defining dynasty and to present these sports heroes as humans.”

The series will air in the US on ESPN and internationally on

Netflix. Subscribers on Netflix can view two new episodes on each Monday from April 20 through May 18, all of them dropping those days at 3:01am Eastern time.

DURANT, YOUNG HIGHLIGHT PLAYERSONLY NBA 2K TOURNEY ON ESPN NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant and Trae Young will lead a 16-player field of NBA players in an NBA 2K20 tournament airing on ESPN. The NBA, the players’ association and 2K announced the NBA 2K Players Tournament on Tuesday. Play begins Friday, and the winner of the week-long competition will receive a $100,000 donation to a coronavirus-related relief effort of their choice.

Players have been seeded according to their NBA 2K player rating -- from Durant’s 96 down to Derrick Jones Jr’s 78 -- and tenure. Durant, the Brooklyn Nets star who sat out this NBA season due to injury, will face Jones in the first game Friday night.

Other matches will air on ESPN2. The championship is set for April 11.

Participants will each select a pool of eight teams prior to the tournament and can only play with each club once throughout the tournament. Rounds one and two will be single elimination, and the semi-finals and finals will be best-of-three.

The other matchups include Young vs. Harrison Barnes, Hassan Whiteside vs. Pat Beverley, Donovan Mitchell vs. Rui Hachimura, Devin Booker vs Michael Porter Jr, Andre Drummond vs DeMarcus Cousins, Zach LaVine vs Deandre Ayton and Montrezl Harrell vs. Domantas Sabonis.

The NBA has been shut down since March 11. The league is still discussing scenarios for resuming play once allowed.

PAGE 14, Thursday, April 2, 2020

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After Tokyo move, swimming looks for new worlds dates

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer ROME (AP) — After new dates were announced for the Tokyo Olympics, the swimming’s governing body is going back to the drawing board to figure out when to hold its next world championships.

The biennial aquatics event was scheduled for Fukuoka, Japan, from July 16 to August 1, 2021. But on Monday, the Tokyo Games were pushed back a full year because of the coronavirus pandemic and moved to the same period — July 23 to August 8, 2021. That likely leaves FINA, swimming’s governing body, with two options for its biggest event: A move to the end of September and the beginning of October 2021; or May-June 2022.

Postponing for a full year would be complicated because of the already full schedule of aquatics events in July and August 2022, which includes the Commonwealth Games, European swimming and water polo championships and the Pan Pacific swimming championships, plus the Asian Games in September.

Holding the worlds before the games is undesirable because it

would conflict with national Olympic trials around the globe.

“I need to see the information from Fukuoka, from the partners, from television, from everybody.

And then we can have a conclusion,” FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu told The Associated Press.

While Marculescu was adamant last week against a move to 2022, that now seems like a possibility.

“For that reason I don’t want to have any opinion, because it doesn’t reflect the reality,” Marculescu said when asked about his previous comments.

World Athletics has already announced that its world championships in Eugene, Oregon, will be pushed back to 2022 but has not selected dates.

Marculescu said FINA “probably needs another two weeks” before making its decision.

Both options FINA is considering have drawbacks.

Holding the worlds — which, in addition to swimming, also includes diving, water polo, artistic swimming, open-water swimming and the non-Olympic sport of high diving — two months after the Olympics would mean risking that many top athletes might not come.

That’s because elite swimmers

IN this July 28, 2019, photo, United States’ Regan Smith swims the backstroke leg in the women’s 4x100m medley relay final at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. (AP) often take a break after a fouryear Olympic cycle; and since this will be an unprecedented five-year cycle, the desire to step away from the training-based sport could be even greater.

Another issue in late September or early October could be the weather in Fukuoka, which is about 675 miles (1,100 kilometres) southwest of Tokyo on the island of Kyushu.

While open water swimmers would welcome cooler temperatures, high divers might be shivering in their swimsuits if a breeze comes along up on their 27- and 20-metre (90- and 65-foot) platforms for men and women, respectively.

For the May-June 2022 option, the biggest problem is going up against more high-profile sports in the United States and Europe — NBA playoffs, European soccer, tennis, golf, cycling and more.

Then there’s the purely political aspect.

FINA’s elections usually coincide with its world championships and the 2021 vote is slated to decide the successor to the organisation’s 84-year-old president, Julio Maglione.

Keeping Maglione in power until he’s 86 might not be the best way forward for the sport.

“Everything,” the 78-year-old Marculescu said, “needs to be considered.”

BRITISH MAN RUNS MARATHON IN BACKYARD DURING LOCKDOWN CHELTENHAM, England (AP) — Being stuck at home didn’t stop a British man from running an outdoor marathon.

James Campbell, a former professional javelin thrower, spent his 32nd birthday yesterday doing six-metre (20-foot) shuttles from one end of his small backyard to the other after promising to run a marathon if one of his Twitter messages received 10,000 retweets.

By the time Campbell completed the marathon in just over five hours, he had raised more than 18,000 pounds ($22,000) for Britain’s National Health Service

to help battle the coronavirus pandemic.

The effort — labelled the #6metregardenchallenge — was live-streamed, with former England soccer great Geoff Hurst among the viewers. Neighbours poked their heads over the backyard fence to give Campbell encouragement.

Campbell ran across a patch of grass, some stones and a small patio in 6-metre (20-foot) stretches. He calculated he would have to traverse his yard at least 7,000 times to reach 42.2 kilometres (26.2 miles).

JAMES Campbell runs a charity marathon to raise funds for the NHS, in his garden, while the country is in lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus, in Cheltenham, England, yesterday. (AP)

OLYMPIC FLAME TO STAY A MONTH IN FUKUSHIMA, NEXT STOP UNSURE TOKYO (AP) — The Olympic flame will be on display until the end of April in Japan’s northeastern prefecture of Fukushima.

Tokyo Olympic and prefecture officials held an official “handover ceremony” yesterday at the J-Village National Training Center in Fukushima.

The public will have limited access to view the flame, and organisers hope to limit the crowd size because of restrictions in place for the coronavirus.

The flame arrived in Japan from Greece on March 20 and the torch relay was to have started last week from Fukushima.

The flame has remained in the prefecture with Wednesday’s event merely ceremonial.

The Fukushima prefecture is the region of Japan that was devastated in 2011 by an earthquake, tsunami, and the subsequent meltdown of three nuclear reactors.

Olympic officials have postponed the Tokyo Games until next year with the opening now set for July 23, 2021.

Officials have not said where the flame will go at the end of the month.

The flame was to help put a focus on the region’s struggle to recover from the events nine years ago.

However, the emphasis of the Olympics next year is likely to shift to the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

IN THE PITS: IRACING IS FUN BUT WON’T CARRY TEAMS FOR LONG

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Virtual racing has been the small saving grace for motorsports since the coronavirus pandemic brought nearly everything to a halt.

Timmy Hill’s iRacing victory on national television gave the journeyman driver and his sponsors exposure they would never receive during a normal NASCAR weekend.

“What I’ll gain from this is recognition. It’s hard to get that recognition because of the level of competition that we are in real life,” said Hill, who at 27 has bounced around NASCAR’s three national series since 2011 before making his first Daytona 500 this year.

“We just don’t have the money, the dollars, to compete at a high level.

Every once in a while we’ll get that big payday and we can really reinvest in our race team,” he said.

“This win will hopefully gain some recognition and attract more sponsors for us, maybe in the real world when we get back racing.

Hopefully it will help me in the real world.”

The real world looks grim right now: Racing and revenue have come to a halt and it is unknown what the landscape will even look like when the crisis ends.

IndyCar suspended its season 48 hours before it was set to open, and last week new series owner Roger Penske made the unprecedented decision to delay the Indianapolis 500 from Memorial Day weekend for the first time in its long and storied history.

Penske’s transportation business has been hit and he informed Penske Corp.’s 60,000 employees over the weekend that both he and the company president would forego their salaries while senior leadership be paid less.

Roughly 50 employees from IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway were laid off.

NASCAR has so far cut salaries for its executives by 25 per cent — that includes the presidents of tracks owned by NASCAR — and 20 per cent for all other employees. Behind the scenes, NASCAR

INDYCAR driver Tony Kanaan, of Brazil, practices on his racing simulator in his home in Indianapolis, on Saturday. Kanaan, along with other IndyCar drivers and NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson will compete in the series’ inaugural virtual racing event Saturday.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy) has crafted a schedule to accommodate the seven races already postponed, but series leaders have been hesitant to release details because everything is so fluid.

NASCAR has officially suspended the season until May 9 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia — a state that on Monday issued a stay-at-home order until

June 10 or it is rescinded by executive order.

Senior NASCAR executives have consistently checked in with teams and discussed future scenarios, including the development of the Next Gen car that had been scheduled for a 2021 debut.

A car meant to revolutionise the sport by improving the racing while

cutting costs — a project the entire industry is deeply tied to — could be pushed back a year.

Teams are caught in financial limbo. Sponsors unsure when their logos will be seen at a race are withholding money needed to make payroll and meet operating expenses. Stayat-home orders have left little to no work for race teams.

“Are we concerned about teams broadly and their financial health? Of course we are,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps has said.

There are very few team owners like Penske or Rick Hendrick, who have other businesses larger than their racing hobby. The bulk of the sport is composed of racers.

Chip Ganassi owns race teams that supply the bulk of his revenue, and when his sports car programme ended last year he moved those employees to a third IndyCar team to avoid layoffs. Now he has five cars idled in two series. It’s the same all the way down the grid, for owners such as Jay Robinson, Carl Long, Rick Ware and The Gaunt

Brothers, all teams who rely on racing as their primary business. They need to be back at the track.

All the uncertainty has teams reluctant to speak publicly. Most discussions are at the ownership level, with drivers and team members waiting and wondering what will happen next.

Penske put IndyCar’s team owners at ease by ensuring the first three payments from the series’ bonus programme will be paid. He acknowledges revenue will be down and was hopeful race teams might qualify for assistance from the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill.

Race promoters are stuck with empty venues and no idea when their next event will be.

Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage was a good sport Sunday during the iRacing event that was televised live on some Fox affiliates and nationwide on its cable channel. He used social media to treat the video game race as a real one because that’s as close to the real thing anyone is going to get for some time.

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Thursday, April 2, 2020, PAGE 15

Analysis: USA Basketball may face roster challenges for 2021

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer KNOWING when the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics will be solves one problem for USA Basketball.

And it creates a few others.

Let’s assume that the 2020-21 NBA season is over by next July, a premise that also assumes some sort of normalcy returns to the sports world and that the global coronavirus pandemic slows to the point where games can be played again. That would also mean that NBA players and coaches would be available, schedule-wise, to participate in the Tokyo Olympics next summer as planned.

That’s good news. That is, until free agency is added to the equation.

The NBA summer of 2021 is supposed to be another free agent extravaganza, one where plenty of the league’s biggest names and top USA Basketball candidates like LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and more could be on the market. This summer would have been so much easier for USA Basketball from that standpoint, with Anthony Davis one of the few big-name stars who could become free agents when this season ends.

US coach Gregg Popovich and managing director Jerry Colangelo would have had probably anyone they wanted this summer.

Next summer, that might be more of a challenge.

The Olympics are now set to start July 23, 2021. That means training camp, in theory, would start around July 3 or 4, right around what could be the peak of the free-agent shopping period.

This has been an issue before. Deron Williams couldn’t participate in contact portions of practice with the 2012 US Olympic team during its training camp in Las Vegas until he signed his new contract with the Brooklyn Nets.

Training camp started before the moratorium on player signings ended that summer, so the Americans and Williams were in a delicate situation. He signed the deal on an iPad at the

But for the Americans, next summer could be particularly problematic.

And again, that’s if next season in the NBA is even

IN this June 10, 2016, photo, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks on Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Cleveland.

(AP Photo/Ron Schwane) first possible moment, got on the court the next day and everything was fine.

But expect lots of that next summer: Players who are about to sign new huge-money deals won’t risk going all-out in practice with the Olympic team before those contracts are finalised. Once they sign, sure.

Beforehand, not happening.

That won’t be ideal, and will add to the challenge.

Among the lessons that needed to be learned from last summer’s Basketball World Cup in China, where the Americans finished seventh, include: The world is no longer afraid of the Americans, and that players are no longer afraid to say no to USA Basketball.

Colangelo and the US staff needed to cycle through about 50 names before getting to a 12-man roster for the the tournament in China, with most players backing out for a variety of reasons along the way. The Americans cut only two; a few got hurt, and everybody else made the decision for themselves.

Popovich left China saying that gold medals were no longer guaranteed for the US. Kobe Bryant, who was an ambassador for that World

AP SOURCE: MLS CUTTING PAY OF TOP EXECUTIVES, SOME STAFF

By ANNE M PETERSON AP Sports Writer MAJOR League Soccer plans to cut the pay of some executives and front office personnel while the season is on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press yesterday.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Deputy Commissioners Mark Abbott and Gary Stevenson will take 20 per cent cuts in salary starting April 16, the person said on the condition of anonymity because the reductions were not announced publicly.

Other cuts would range from 20% to 10% for managerial staff. Lower salaried employees, like entry-level hires, would see no reduction in pay. The cuts were first reported by Yahoo Sports.

MLS does not plan to furlough or layoff staff at this time, although a hiring freeze is in place.

The league employs some 300 people at its New York headquarters.

The MLS move comes after the NBA cut the salaries of some 100 top executives by 20% while the season is on hold.

The NHL is cutting salaries for league employees 25% starting next month.

NASCAR officers will have a 25% reduction in salary, while all other employees will have their salaries reduced by 20%.

The MLS season was suspended on March 12 after teams had played two matches.

The Philadelphia Union announced yesterday that a player had tested positive for the novel coronavirus after experiencing mild symptoms.

CHINA TELLS CBA, OTHER SPORTS TO REMAIN SUSPENDED FOR NOW BEIJING (AP) — China’s government on Tuesday ordered all major sports events to remain suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak, meaning the country’s basketball league will have to push back its planned restart.

The CBA had hoped to resume play in mid-April but was denied government approval to do so.

Instead, China’s General Administration of Sport issued a statement saying any large sporting events that draw crowds “are temporarily not being resumed.”

The agency did not give a timeline for when the suspensions may be lifted, but said it will “make timely adjustments according to the epidemic prevention and control situation.”

Cup, was in Beijing for the final games last August and said the same thing.

“It’s not a matter of the rest of the world catching up to the US. It’s that the rest of the world has been caught up for quite some time,’’ Bryant, who died in a January helicopter crash, said in China last summer.

“It’s to the point now where the US, we’re going to win some and we’re going to lose some. That’s just how it goes.”

The one-year delay is going to cause issues for some other nations as well.

If Greece qualifies for the Olympics — the tournaments that will decide the last four spots are going to be rescheduled at some point, with Greece one of the 24 nations still in that mix — then reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo will have a massive decision to make.

And he’ll have to make it probably around the same time that he signs a new NBA contract worth something around $200 million.

Rudy Gobert can be free in the summer of 2021 as well, which could impact France.

Marc Gasol will be a year older, which might weigh on his decision to play for Spain or not.

over by July. Until USA Basketball knows what will happen there, it remains stuck in limbo and unable to resume the process of

building the next Olympic roster. All that is clear so far is the road to another gold medal for the red, white and blue won’t be easy.

SPORTS SECTION E

THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2020

PAGE 13

Wimbledon is cancelled for 1st time since World War II

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer WIMBLEDON was cancelled yesterday because of the coronavirus pandemic, the first time since World War II that the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament won’t be played.

Britain imposed a nationwide lockdown just over a week ago, and the All England Club announced after a two-day emergency meeting that the event it refers to simply as The Championships is being scrapped for 2020. That hadn’t happened since 1945.

Wimbledon was scheduled to be played on the club’s grass courts on the outskirts of London from June 29 to July 12.

Instead, the next edition of the tournament will be June 28 to July 11, 2021.

Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer surely spoke for many with a one-word message on Twitter: “Devastated.”

Also yesterday, the ATP and WTA announced that the men’s and women’s professional tours would be

suspended until at least July 13, bringing the number of elite tennis tournaments affected by the coronavirus to more than 30. The top tours already had been on hold through June 7.

Lower-level events on the Challenger Tour and ITF World Tennis Tour also are called off through mid-July now.

Wimbledon first was held in 1877 and has been contested every year since, with the exception of two stretches: from 1915-18 because of World War I, and from 1940-45 because of World War II. “It has weighed heavily on our minds that the staging of The Championships has only been interrupted previously by World Wars,” club chairman Ian Hewitt said in a press release, “but, following thorough and extensive consideration of all scenarios, we believe that it is a measure of this global crisis that it is ultimately the right decision to cancel this year’s Championships, and instead concentrate on how we can use the breadth of Wimbledon’s resources to

A SIGN outside one of the main gates to Wimbledon as it is announced the Wimbledon tennis Championships for 2020 has been cancelled due to the coronavirus in London yesterday.

(AP Photos/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

ONE of the main public entrances to All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club with the statue of former winner of the Wimbledon tennis championships Fred Perry in the background as the tennis Wimbledon tennis Championships 2020 has been cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus. help those in our local communities and beyond.”

Wimbledon joins the growing list of sports events called off completely in 2020 because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

That includes the Tokyo Olympics — which have been pushed back 12 months — and the NCAA men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments.

Wimbledon is the first major tennis championship wiped out this year because of the coronavirus.

The start of the French Open was postponed from late May to late September.

Shortly after the news came from Wimbledon, the US Tennis Association issued a statement saying it “still plans to host the US Open as scheduled,” from August 31 to September 13 in New York.

Wednesday’s decision by the All England Club means Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep will not get a chance to defend their Wimbledon titles from 2019.

“We are going through something bigger than tennis and Wimbledon will be back!” Halep wrote on social media. “And it means I have even longer to look forward to defending my title.”

Serena Williams retweeted the club’s message about the cancellation and wrote: “I’m Shooked.”

The move also takes away what might have been one of Federer’s best chances to try to add to his men’srecord 20 Grand Slam titles.

Federer, who turns 39 in August, is currently recovering from knee surgery and planned to return in

time for the European grass-court circuit that now has been erased from the calendar.

In a statement last week, the All England Club said that postponing the twoweek event would not come “without significant risk and difficulty” because of the grass surface that is affected by weather conditions.

The club also said then that it had ruled out “playing behind closed doors” without spectators.

Hundreds of thousands of people have caught COVID-19, and thousands have died.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, which can include fever and cough, but also milder cases of pneumonia, sometimes requiring hospitalisation.

The All England Club said

it would work to help with the emergency response to the pandemic, including distributing medical equipment and food and offering the use of their facilities in other ways.

Regular day-to-day life has come to a halt in many ways in many parts of the world in recent weeks, and sports has reflected that.

The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball are on hold indefinitely; the Kentucky Derby, Masters and Indianapolis 500 were pushed back several months until September; England’s Premier League and other club soccer competitions are currently suspended; the European soccer championship — scheduled to end in London on the same day as the Wimbledon men’s final — was postponed from 2020 to 2021.

NCAA DECISION WILL AFFECT ELIGIBILITY OF SEVERAL BAHAMIAN STUDENT ATHLETES

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLEDGE TO OFFER PLAYERS FINANCIAL SUPPORT THROUGH MAY

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE NCAA announced a decision that will affect the eligibility of several Bahamian student-athletes and others throughout collegiate sports that saw their seasons end prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organisation’s Division I Council will allow programmes to extend an additional season of competition and eligibility to participants in spring sports.

Spring sports affected in the decision include baseball, softball, tennis, golf, track and field (outdoor) lacrosse, rowing, men’s volleyball, beach volleyball and women’s water polo.

It will also allow for roster expansion through increased scholarship limits for baseball, the only spring sport with such a limit. The decision can benefit senior baseball players like Ellison Hanna of the Indiana State Sycamores.

Winter sports like basketball, swimming and diving, hockey and gymnastics were not included in the decision as the council deemed all or much of their regular seasons were

completed. “The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” said Council chair M Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Penn.

“The Board of Governors encouraged conferences and schools to take action in the best interest of student athletes and their communities, and now schools have the opportunity to do that.”

On March 11, the NCAA joined the growing list of organisations to cancel sporting events as a means of combating the spread of COVID-19.

Several Bahamian athletes were set to compete at basketball and track and field championship meets at various levels within the NCAA when the decision was announced.

Hours later, the NCAA chose to cancel all spring and winter championships, including the NCAA Indoor Track and Field

Division I Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Several Bahamian student-athletes qualified for the meet as one of the top 16 ranked performers in their respective events.

They included Devine Parker (Ohio State Buckeyes), Charisma Taylor (Washington State Cougars), Doniesha Anderson (Florida Gators), Jyles Etienne (Indiana Hoosiers), Megan Moss (Kentucky Wildcats) and Samson Colebrooke (Purdue Boilermakers).

According to the NCAA: “Members also adjusted financial aid rules to allow teams to carry more members on a scholarship to account for incoming recruits and student-athletes who had been in their last year of eligibility who decide to stay.

“In a nod to the financial uncertainty faced by higher education, the Council vote also provided schools with the flexibility to give students the opportunity to return for 2020-21 without requiring that athletics aid be provided at the same level awarded for 2019-20.

This flexibility applies only to student-athletes who would have exhausted eligibility in 2019-20.”

THE minor league baseball season was officially suspended and Major League Baseball pledged to offer players financial support through May as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred made the official communication Tuesday and also added that minor leaguers will receive $400 per week through May 31.

A total of 17 Bahamians are currently contracted to minor league deals. Prior to the suspension of all baseball activity, many of those players had yet to receive their assignments for the upcoming season.

MLB previously announced financial support through April 8, the day before the minor league season was set to commence.

Individual clubs will create their own compensation plan to assist players assigned to the Dominican Summer League.

“While I fully anticipate that baseball will resume this season, it is very difficult to predict with any accuracy the timeline for resumption of our season.

And while I am confident that MLB ultimately will emerge from this crisis as strong as ever, we will face some significant economic challenges in the foreseeable future.

“Our clubs rely heavily

on revenue from tickets/ concessions, broadcasting/ media, licencing and sponsorships to pay player salaries. In the absence of games, these revenue streams will be lost or substantially reduced, and clubs will not have sufficient funds to meet their financial obligations,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in a letter sent to clubs, and obtained

by USA TODAY Sports.

“I know that for some of you this stipend is less than you would have

earned if the season were being played. However, we decided to provide a uniform amount to all Minor League players in order to provide this assistance to as many players as possible.

“The Baseball Assistance Team (“BAT”) is available to consider grant applications on an expedited basis for those players facing significant and immediate financial hardship.’’

According to the Associated Press, the weekly minimum salaries on fullseason minor league teams range from $290 at Class A to $502 at Triple-A over the five-month season, meaning many players are making more during this hiatus than they do during the season.

“MLB’s minor league initiative also does not cover players on the restricted, voluntary retired, disqualified or ineligible lists, and those already receiving housing or food from teams.

“In addition, each team will make arrangements for players on Dominican Summer League rosters.”