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VOLUME:117 No.120, MAY 18TH, 2020

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PAGES

OPENING UP PM sets target date of July 1 to reopen borders

• Family Islands get approval to start business • Bimini given food guarantee as 14 day closure begins • New COVID card will allow travel to specific locations

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net GOVERNMENT officials are considering resuming commercial travel in the country “on or before” July 1, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced yesterday as he revealed the government’s long-awaited plans to “gradually” resume domestic travel.

Dr Minnis also announced the implementation of a COVID-19 travel card that will facilitate domestic travel. People can begin registering for this card, which requires a doctor’s examination,

on Wednesday. He made the revelations during a national address after announcing no new COVID-19 cases in the country for the fourth consecutive day.

Noting that the country is continuing to make progress against the COVID-19 threat, Dr Minnis said officials have already begun implementing components of phase 2 of his administration’s phased plan for re-opening.

However, he said numerous factors will influence when the country will move on to the fifth and final SEE PAGE THREE

HO&USE

IN THE BAG - GLOBAL HAS PORT FUNDING

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

NASSAU Cruise Port’s top executive yesterday hailed the “monumental achievement” in beating its $130m capital raising target amid the economic turmoil created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michael Maura told Tribune Business that the Prince George Wharf developer’s bond offering, which “exceeded” its fund-raising goal through being oversubscribed, had provided sufficient sufficient financing to “carry us” for 16 months of intensive capital upgrades to The Bahamas’ main gateway.

He explained that this would include both demolition and marine works plus the reclamation of land that will be the site for the cruise port’’s food, retail and entertainment attractions.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

WARNING NEW LOANS COULD BE EXPENSIVE

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

LOST TO DORIAN INSIGHT: Astrid Stratton lost her life to the deadly storm but the whereabouts of her body, just like many others on the island, is still a mystery.

Read Leandra Rolle’s report on Page 8

FEARS have been raised that the government’s debt costs may double with any new COVID-19 foreign currency borrowings it undertakes as a result of unfavourable secondary market conditions. Tribune Business has obtained data showing that Bahamian dollar bond debt with various maturities is being traded at significant discounts compared to its ‘face value’ at the time it was first issued.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

DOUGLASS NAMED FOR US AMBASSADOR Don’t PRESIDENT Donald Trump has announced his intention to nominate entrepreneur and philanthropist William A Douglass as US ambassador to The Bahamas.

Mr Douglass, of Florida, founded K2 Advisors in 1994 and managed it for more than two decades before selling it to Franklin Templeton Investments in 2012.

Earlier in his career, Mr Douglass was managing

WILLIAM A DOUGLASS director of Caspian Securities LLC. He also was a managing director for

Tiedemann International Research for whom he first managed their office in Tokyo, Japan, and then co-managed their United States business in New York.

Mr Douglass has close ties to The Bahamas and has been visiting Eleuthera since 1962. He is the grandson of Pan Am founder and South Eleuthera resident Juan Trippe, who died in 1981.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

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PAGE 2, Monday, May 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

ROTARY RESPONSE

ROTARY Bahamas Disaster Relief committee yesterday began distritubuting more than 400 grocery packages at the Church of GOD of Prophecy Youth Camp site at Marshall Road and Faith Avenue south.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

COVID-19 MAKES IT HARD TO PLAN FOR HURRICANE - ALBURY

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

CENTRAL and South Abaco MP James Albury indicated shelters on Abaco have already been activated in anticipation of bad weather from a passing tropical depression on the weekend.

This comes as June 1, the start of a hurricane season, approaches and amid criticism Abaco and Grand Bahama are not prepared.

Mr Albury told The Tribune he has been working with Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction Iram Lewis, the Disaster Reconstruction Authority, the island administrator, local community members and other agencies that fall under the ministry.

The MP explained how tricky the situation on the island is for preparedness dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian compounded by COVID-19.

He added: “You know the situation is of course very difficult because in Abaco you have obviously Hurricane Dorian destroyed the vast majority of our infrastructure now you have of course we’re dealing with COVID-19. So have that double blow which makes things that much more difficult.

“You know what we learned in Hurricane Dorian what does work and what doesn’t work as well as being guided by you know facing the reality of the health pandemic. You know, how we’re going to move forward on that. So both of those factors are going to guide those decisions as we move forward.”

An International Organisation for Migration report assessing Abaco and Grand Bahama’s hurricane preparedness noted there is very limited emergency shelter capacity available on both islands. The lack of adequate shelters was an issue one Dundas Town resident, who wished to remain anonymous, raised yesterday.

“There is no hurricane preparedness,” she said, adding she did not think there were enough shelters to house displaced residents now living in tents. Majority of homes have yet to begin repairs. Some have started their repairs but not completely.”

Abaco resident Vandea Stuart agrees the island is not ready for a major storm.

“We still have people living in tents that are placed inside of their homes that have been damaged,” Ms Stuart said.

“A lot of people living in trailers — I don’t think that these trailers would

be able to sustain a category 5 storm — this is even more dangerous. We are definitely not ready for another storm. The best advice for the government is to prepare to build a suitable hurricane shelter away from the water – something that is strong and sturdy — and/or have a backup plan to evacuate people off the island prior to the storm.”

Mr Albury admitted there is a very “unfortunate reality” of people living in partially completed homes, of which officials are aware.

After Hurricane Dorian, the government said it would bring legislation forward for mandatory evacuations, however the bill has not come to Parliament yet. Asked if mandatory evacuations will occur this hurricane season, Mr Albury stated it was “a very situational outcome”. “... That’s going to have to be a bridge that’s crossed when we reach that point.

We know a hurricane is headed our way and it’s a sizeable storm and you know that’s a decision the prime minister and the minister will have to make if we reach that point whether we’ll not need to consider mandatory evacuations. So that’s really all up in the air.”

The Ministry of Disaster Preparedness is expected to release a hurricane plan this week.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, May 18, 2020, PAGE 3

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

REPATRIATION FLIGHTS TO RESUME THIS WEEK

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A WEEK after the government suspended the repatriation flights of Bahamians stuck abroad, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced yesterday that those flights will resume this week, allowing Bahamians to return home.

This comes after health officials revealed last week that two tests conducted on the Grand Bahama male passenger who initially tested positive for COVID19 before travelling on a repatriation flight had yielded negative results.

In view of this, officials said they felt “satisfied” that the passenger did not present a risk to other

passengers aboard the flight.

Noting that the system has been streamlined to avoid a second occurrence of last week’s incident, Dr Minnis said two repatriation flights will be scheduled for this Thursday and Sunday.

“Two repatriation exercises are scheduled for this coming week from Fort Lauderdale into New Providence. There will be flight this Thursday, May 21 and one on Saturday, May 23,” he said.

“A flight to Grand Bahama will be accommodated if necessary. Those who are seeking to return home through this repatriation exercise and who meet the required protocols including a COVID-19 negative test may book directly

through Bahamasair.

Those who already have a return ticket on Bahamasair should call the airline’s office between 9am and 5pm beginning (today).”

Dr Minnis added that passengers will be required to present a negative COVID19 test result to Bahamasair ticket agents before boarding the aircraft.

“A representative of the Consul General’s (office) will be present who will validate the COVID test result,” he continued.

Hundreds of Bahamians were left abroad after the country closed its borders in late March in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Calling the situation “unfortunate”, Dr Minnis said at the time that it was

“essential” for officials to close the country’s borders to prevent the further spread of the highly infectious disease.

However, after facing controversy for allowing six permanent American residents into the country during the lockdown who brought COVID-19 test supplies but were not tested before entry, the government repatriated nearly 200 Bahamians stuck abroad amid the pandemic.

During his national address last Sunday, Dr Minnis suspended the repatriation exercises after revealing that a Grand Bahama passenger who tested positive for COVID19 was among the 183 residents who returned to the country.

It was later revealed that the passenger was not on Bahamasair’s initial list of people slated to join the government’s repatriation exercise, prompting an investigation in the matter.

Dr Merceline DahlRegis, the co-ordinator of the government’s COVID19 task-force, said on Friday although the passenger has since tested negative for the virus, she did not justify the passenger’s actions for boarding the flight while knowing he could have been a COVID-19 carrier.

“It doesn’t justify his coming on the flight, but health is in charge to determine if this person presented a risk to the other passengers on the flight, and the only way we can do that is to know his

COVID-19 status,” she said during a press conference on Friday.

“So, immediately a test and swab was taken not only on this person but his accompanying travel companions and sent to the lab.

Upon disembarkation, this is what was done.”

She continued: “We got the negative swabs and we interpret that as not shedding the virus so when he came on the plane, he was not shedding the virus.

“We weren’t satisfied so we repeated the test and that too was negative. That confirmed to the health team that he was not shedding the virus when he took the flight hence, the health team is satisfied that he was not shedding the virus when he took the flight.”

PM sets target date of July 1 to reopen borders from page one

stage, which will allow the country to re-open its borders and resume international travel and tourism operations.

“We are looking at a possible date for commercial travel on or before July 1 of this year,” he said. “These dates may change depending on the circumstance. I want to repeat, however, that this date is not final.

“It will be adjusted if we see a deterioration of the COVID-19 infection trends or if we’ve determined that the protocols and procedures are not in place sufficiently to warrant this opening. Our opening will depend on your cooperation. Our life commencing (to) the new normal will depend on your co-operation. The success of our economy will depend on your cooperation.”

During his address, Dr Minnis also relaxed

restrictions on more Family Islands, allowing commercial activity to resume on Cat Island, Long Island, Abaco and Andros.

These islands now join Ragged Island, Rum Cay, Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay, which were given the green light to resume commercial operations earlier this month.

Exuma, San Salvador and Eleuthera, which also have no confirmed cases, were absent from the list; however no explanation was given for this. However Dr Minnis did chastise Eleuthera residents for a recent motorcade there.

Weekend lockdown and weekday curfew measures remain in effect for the whole country.

As it relates to domestic travel, Dr Minnis also announced that the government is set to begin a “gradual opening of interisland travel.”

He said residents of

cleared Family Islands stuck in New Providence or Grand Bahama will be allowed to travel in the first phase. Outlining how the new COVID-19 travel card will work, he said: “The Ministry of Health has developed a policy and protocol for the approval and monitoring of individuals travelling to islands that have resumed normal commercial activity. This policy and protocol will require individuals to register with the Ministry of Health by emailing covid19travel@ bahamas.gov.bs or calling 511. Individuals must also submit to an evaluation by a Ministry of Health authorised physician in the public or private sector. The evaluation will include a risk assessment via a questionnaire to determine the individual’s level of risk for COVID-19 infection, plus or minus a physical exam to determine the presence of any symptoms consistent with COVID-19.”

​PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis speaking yesterday.

He continued: “If deemed a low risk and the physical exam does not reveal any symptoms, it is expected that the person will be issued a COVID-19 Authorisation Travel Card that will allow travel to the Family Island. If the individual is deemed a higher risk or has symptoms that may be consistent with COVID-19, the individual will be referred for testing to definitively determine their COVID-19 status.”

He added: “The healthcare provider may still decide that a person who is low risk may need to be tested for COVID-19.

Individuals traveling on behalf of their workplace will be subjected to similar requirements.”

Residents wishing to return home can register with the Ministry of Health

on Wednesday, he added.

“Once cleared for travel, each traveler must present the COVID-19 Travel Authorisation Card to the relevant ticket agent… Residents of the cleared Family Islands may travel between those islands by plane or boat,” he continued.

Dr Minnis also further relaxed restrictions on exercise, while adding that construction companies and hardware stores will be allowed to operate under additional hours in preparation for the upcoming hurricane season.

“I wish to note that construction companies in New Providence and Grand Bahama may now operate on Saturdays from 7am to 1pm,” he said. “To facilitate hurricane preparedness, home and hardware stores will now be allowed

Photo: Yontalay Bowe/BIS to operate in-store hours on Monday 8am to 8pm.

This is in addition to the Wednesday and Friday instore hours that home and hardware stores are currently allowed to operate.

“The operating hours also apply to manufacturers of hurricane proof windows and other hurricane related products. Curbside and delivery services may continue as previously outlined in Phase 1b.

“Pharmacies may now operate from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday for the general public and Saturday 9am to 5pm for essential workers only. Exercise may now take place on Saturday and Sunday from 5am to 8am in one’s immediate neighbourhood.”

Editorial View - Page 6

PLP CRITICISES MINNIS FOR ISLAND SELECTION

MEMBERS of the Progressive Liberal Party chastised Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis for not allowing Exuma, Eleuthera and San Salvador to resume normal commercial activity like many other Family Islands without COVID-19 cases.

Singling out Eleuthera in particular yesterday, Dr Minnis reprimanded some residents there who took part in a recent motorcade.

In response, PLP leader Philip “Brave” Davis accused Dr Minnis of attacking “a small group of young people in South Eleuthera who drove in a motorcade in memory of their fallen friend.”

He also claimed that an FNM general and other representatives attended a funeral at a church in Eleuthera “with dozens of mourners reportedly without the necessary social distancing,” and questioned why Dr Minnis did not

reference this. Mr Davis said the data is clear adding “there are no COVID-19 cases on Eleuthera, and none on Exuma or San Salvador with none suspected, and yet normal business cannot return. In contrast, close contact industries like construction are allowed to reopen. What is the scientific evidence that has driven him to that conclusion?”

Meanwhile, Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper said residents of Exuma are “deeply disappointed” in Dr Minnis’ national address. He also accused Dr Minnis of acting like “a dictator” who does not have to explain “nonsensical decisions” to the public.

Mr Cooper said: “The people of Exuma are deeply disappointed in the prime minister’s national address today (Sunday). There was no legitimate reason given for why Exuma cannot

resume commercial activity while other Family Islands in the same circumstance are allowed to do so. The prime minister appears to be using the emergency powers granted to him to lord over the Bahamas as a dictator without having to explain the nonsensical decisions he is making to the people whom he serves. This puppeteering is unacceptable.”

Mr Cooper added: “I call on the competent authority to display some competence and either open Exuma for commercial activity or provide the medical explanation for why Exuma cannot operate as others can. In the absence of such an explanation, the prime minister’s decision appears unfair, arbitrary and perverse.”

In a separate statement, Senator Clay Sweeting Sweeting said the people of Eleuthera were left with more questions than

answers after Dr Minnis’ address.

“We wonder if the prime minister has lost touch of why these lockdowns were initiated,” Mr Sweeting said. “He chastised the people of Eleuthera on a few occasions during his national addresses, but how long can a society remain locked up? Where is the scientific data to determine the extent to which these phases are implemented with zero cases and zero suspected cases?”

Yesterday, Dr Minnis announced that Cat Island, Long Island, Abaco and Andros can resume commercial activity today.

Those islands join Cat Island, Long Island, Abaco, Andros, Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins, Long Cay, Rum Cay and Ragged Island, which were previously allowed to resume normal business.

Dr Minnis did not explain why Eluethera, Exuma and San Salvador have not had business restrictions relaxed like other Family Islands without confirmed COVID-19 cases. These islands, as well as Grand Bahama, Bimini and New Providence, have been under strict COVID-19 measures for roughly eight weeks.

Late last month, 13 people were charged in Exuma for breaking the

24-hour curfew to hold a beach party.

An official from the Office of the Prime Minister said all decisions on reopening are made on the advice of medical professionals. Attempts to reach a representative from the Ministry of Health for an explanation were unsuccessful up to press time.

Weekday curfews and weekend lockdowns remain in effect for the whole country.

PAGE 4, Monday, May 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

Mobile app will monitor people in self-isolation

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Health has signed a contract for a web and mobile app which will provide a 24-hour monitoring service for those in self-isolation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was revealed by health consultant to the Office of the Prime Minister, Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, who noted that the app - called Hubbcat - will allow for health officials to track those in quarantine.

She added it was chosen out of seven digital technologies with similar features.

“From these seven prospects, the Hubbcat solution was selected,” she said during a press conference at the Ministry of Health on Friday. “This web and mobile app is simple and easy to use. It is a 24 (hour)monitoring service for all those in-home quarantine and isolation.

“It provides geo-fencing

capabilities, which preprogrammed virtual boundaries around the properties or dwelling structures of those in quarantine and isolation (and) broadcasting alerts whenever there is a breach or violation of the virtual boundaries and real time tracking and recall.

Mindful of people’s right to privacy, she added: “Information collected from registered individuals remain anonymous. When an alert is signaled, the Ministry of Health and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force will visit the premises.

“The Hubcatt solution also provides the Ministry of Health with the ability to monitor those who fall ill while in quarantine and isolation without the threat of infecting families, communities and the public.”

Last month, health officials revealed that the self-isolation method they’ve prescribed to suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases was not working.

In an effort to ensure people remain in isolation, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced an app will be used to monitor people in quarantine.

He added those found in breach of the isolation rules could face a $20,000 fine or be imprisoned up to five years in prison, or both.

However, earlier this month, Dr Dahl-Regis noted that 12 people who were in quarantine could not be located by health officials.

Speaking at Friday’s press conference, she said. “At the present time, the Ministry of Health has on record a contact tracing success rate of 98.8% and a failure rate of 1.2%. With this Hubbcat solution, we plan to bring this failure rate down to zero.”

Not complying to the social distancing guidelines, she said, could result in a considerable increase of cases by the end of this month. “This slide currently suggest that we may have a total of 125 cases by the end

of May if we do not practice good physical distancing measures. (Therefore,) the Ministry of Health encourages all to adhere to the preventative guidelines.”

This also includes adhering to the COVID-19

guidelines as it relates to funerals, weddings and other events under the COVID-19 emergency order. She said: “We have received reports that family members and friends not part of the invitation list

have presented themselves to witness the ceremony. We want to encourage you to respect the physical distancing principle and respect the funeral invitations list (and) as for weddings, the same applies.”

ABOVE: Paolo Garzaroli of Graycliff (left) and Mario Carey of MCR Bahamas Group prepare dinners for the Graycliff Feeding Program,one of five to be held each Friday from 1pm to 4pm in May. Left: A recipient receives two dinners from Graycliff employee Denise Francis.

Photos by Azaleta IshmaelNewry.

EXUMA WOMAN RECOVERING FROM HER VIRUS NIGHTMARE

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

A BAHAMIAN living in the US who is recovering from COVID-19 said the virus was a nightmare that she thought would take her life.

Karen Washington, of Arizona, was diagnosed with COVID-19 two weeks ago. It is believed she contracted the virus from her American-born husband, Paul, who although testing positive, showed very few symptoms.

“Thank God I seem to be on the tail end of this thing,” said Washington, who is a native of Exuma.

“I have never felt so sick in my life. I had double vision, vomiting, diarrhea, a fever that nearly broke the thermometer and I was literally talking out of my head.”

Washington’s symptoms started on a Thursday afternoon and she said by Friday morning, she had the fullblown virus.

“It happened, oh, so quick,” she said, continuing to tell of her ordeal. “I remember having a very bad headache to the point where I could not concentrate at work. My eyes were very red and I started to feel really cold. My boss told me to go to a clinic and

have myself tested. Right away, I thought about Paul.

He had a fever and said his throat was hurting so I contacted him and had him meet me to the clinic.”

By the time the couple arrived at the clinic, Washington said her body was literally shaking. She and her husband were tested and given the bad news.

They made up part of the 1,369 cases in the state of Arizona.

“I thought I was not hearing right so I asked for the doctor to repeat what he said,” Washington said. “The doctor repeated himself, ‘You both have symptoms of COVID-19 and have a positive test’.

That is what he said. By this time, my head was pounding. He told us we would have to go in selfquarantine for two whole weeks and that I seemed to be worse off than my husband.”

Washington stayed home for five days then had to be admitted to a hospital. She had full-blown pneumonia and had to have assistance with her breathing.

“Thank God I slept through most of it when I was in hospital,” Washington said. “The feeling was so awful. I gasped to get air into my lungs and still felt like there was no air.

My body felt like it was

roasting inside out and I started seeing things that were not there. I remember seeing Paul’s face in a blur one day. He looked so worried. I wanted to say ‘don’t worry’ to him, but the words couldn’t come out of my mouth. I prayed to God to help me and I just let go. It was either He helped me or I ceased to exist. I made up my mind for it. After all, I was already in hell.”

Washington spent one week in hospital and was discharged to continue quarantine. Her husband, seemed better when he received her at home and ready to take up the mantle of caring for her.

“Secretly, I was mad at Paul because I knew I got the virus from him,” Washington said. “I thought about physical condition, not being able to move my legs properly and how everything hurt so much and just that tired awful feeling, dry cough and sore throat.

I just let him cater to me.

I did nothing. Everything I wanted I made him take care of it.”

Laughing, Washington said she feels so much better and is “recovering nicely”. She said she “would not wish this on my worst enemy” and thanks her husband for his tremendous efforts to care for her.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, May 18, 2020, PAGE 5

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

Fears as Bimini gets ready for lockdown

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net RESIDENTS of Bimini said while they have prepared “as best they could” for the two-week lockdown which begins today but fear provisions may not be enough for some households struggling to make ends meet.

Pertrisa Saunders from Bailey Town, Bimini, said she is mostly concerned for single parent households on the island, who may not have sufficient supplies to last during the two-week period.

Mrs Saunders said while she believes the government is doing all it can to address the needs of the less fortunate in the community, she does not think it will be enough.

“Personally, I’m prepared, but some persons are not as fortunate as (others),” she said.

“You hear (people) saying ‘oh they send plenty of food’ but everybody is not going to be straight because some homes like I told you have extended family. Some homes have a lot of children. Some homes have single parents.

“And for them, I feel for them and I guess the government is doing as much as they could.”

After Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced a two-week lockdown for Bimini last week, the government’s National Food Committee along with the Department of Social Services began distributing meal vouchers to residents there.

However, according to Mrs Saunders, not everyone on the island has been able to receive the vouchers.

She said: “Everybody didn’t get a food coupon.

They’re making it sound like everyone got one, but not every person on Bimini

got a coupon. From what I’m hearing, some got $80 and personally, I talked to a church member and they got only like $84 so it wasn’t even $100 the government claiming; it’s not true. I guess they gave it based on income or whatever, but for a lot of people it was not $100.

“So my heart goes out to the ones who don’t have it for two weeks. And we only have a boat coming in here once a week. Those boats that come in – the ones from Nassau. They bring in sufficient supplies for a week.”

Another resident, Oslien Jadorte also expressed similar concerns to The Tribune, saying the unprecedented nature of the lockdown has even forced people to go in “panic buying” mode.

“A little bit of panic buying is happening understandably because for two weeks, some persons don’t know how they’re going to make it but there’s a lot of panic buying going on,” he said.

“The boat was delayed and there’s another boat coming from Freeport (today) but the only problem with that is it won’t be here until 5 so that only gives us a four hour window to disembark everything and deliver it to the stores or to the individuals.”

“So, that will be a challenge, but Bimini is a tough place. We’ve been through a lot of adversities that we have overcome so I expect us to be okay with this one as well.”

While there is some concern about meeting the food needs of vulnerable members in the community, Mr Jadorte said residents on the island are committed to ensuring that no one goes hungry during the lockdown. “…We have our churches and other organisations who are doing their part to

make sure that families are provided with groceries,” he said. “We have a Christian Council that have made themselves available that in the midst of the lockdown, if persons find themselves in a predicament there are hotlines in place where you can call and of course, the island administrator, the Royal Bahamas Police Force (have given permission) that if anything needs to be delivered to persons who can’t move, those measures are put in place,” he said.

“So, we’re going to be fine.”

For some residents, there are other concerns, such as when certain essential services on the island will be able to resume.

Bimini resident Ginger Maddox said: “Yes, we have the food supplies that we expect to need, and we are content to stay on our property. “(But) we’re concerned about garbage collection.

We haven’t had garbage collection in two weeks, and we don’t want to go another two weeks without garbage collection, so I don’t know whether that’s something that’s going to be permitted during the lockdown or not.”

Alfred Sweeting added: “I think we’re prepared. It’s not something we’ve had to do… and I’m not quite sure whether this is necessary, but I agree with giving it a try. It’s all very new and I’m not quite certain that this is going to do it, but I am deemed to give it a try. “ To date, there are 13 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Bimini, which has been labelled as a COVID-19 hotspot.

If more cases were to arise on the island, COVID19 task-force coordinator Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis has said health officials will consider extending the lockdown period.

“Therefore, this finding is not unusual…It is likely the passenger was shedding the coronavirus when the tests was initially taken, hence a positive result was conveyed. In that case, the interval from the test results that were taken in Florida to that in the Bahamas was ten days.

“Therefore, health officials are now satisfied that the passenger did not pose a risk to other passengers on the flight.”

Last week, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis suspended the government’s repatriation exercises after revealing a Grand Bahama passenger who flew in had tested positive for the virus.

Dr Dahl Regis said although the passenger has since tested negative for the virus, she did not justify the passenger’s actions for boarding the flight while knowing he could’ve been a COVID-19 carrier.

“It doesn’t justify his coming on the flight, but health is in charge to determine if this person presented a risk to the other passengers on the flight, and the only way we can do that is to know his COVID19 status,” she said.

“So, immediately a test and swab was taken not only on this person but his accompanying travel companions and sent to the lab. Upon disembarkation, this is what was done.”

She continued: “We got the negative swabs and we interpret that as not shedding the virus so when he came on the plane, he was not shedding the virus.”

“We weren’t satisfied so we repeated the test and that too was negative. That confirmed to the health team that he was not shedding the virus when he took the flight hence, the health team is satisfied that he was not shedding the virus when he took the flight.”

“The lockdown periods are for 14 days and we’re dealing with averages and the recommended protocols,” she said during a press conference at the

Ministry of Health on Friday. “If we continue to have cases during this period of time, new cases during the 14-day period we will certainly look at

consideration that would promote a longer lockdown, but we will have to be sure that they will have enough food and other support services are in place.”

‘PASSENGER WHO INITIALLY TESTED POSITIVE WAS NO RISK’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MINISTRY of Health officials say they feel “satisfied” that the Grand Bahama passenger who initially tested positive for COVID-19 and has now tested negative for the virus did not present a risk to other passengers aboard the government’s repatriation flight.

During a press conference at the Ministry of Health on Friday, Dr Merceline DahlRegis, the co-ordinator of the government’s COVID19 task-force, said officials came to the conclusion after two COVID-19 tests conducted on the male passenger yielded negative results. She said the time between the positive test and the flight was ten days – in which time the patient may well have recovered.

She said: “The tests were repeated, and the second test was also reported negative. Our data shows the time interval from symptom onset to test results in the slide as well as symptom onset to recovery may vary considerably.

DR MERCELINE DAHL-REGIS

NOTICE

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PAGE 6, Monday, May 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,

jamaaltheartist@gmail.com

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991

EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,

C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-

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Light at the end of the tunnel THE countdown to reopening has begun.

In tentatively naming a July 1 date for resuming commercial travel, as well as plans to start allowing inter-island travel for virus-free islands, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has given the country something to aim towards.

That date could well move, of course, depending on how well the country continues to recover – but there are encouraging signs, with a fourth day in a row of no new cases of COVID-19 being diagnosed in The Bahamas.

Already, more of the Family Islands are starting to resume commercial activity, with Cat Island, Long Island and Andros joining Ragged Island, Rum Cay, Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay in being able to resume commercial operations.

Some names are notably missing from that list – such as Eleuthera, with Dr Minnis taking time in his speech to criticise a motorcade that took place there recently. He did not specify why Eleuthera – alongside San Salvador and Exuma, all of which have reported no

cases, were not on the list of islands that could reopen, leaving us only to wonder if the motorcade played a part in that decision.

He also announced the introduction of a new travel card allowing people to travel between islands. Those wanting to travel would need to complete a questionnaire, and be evaluated by a doctor to determine their level of risk, before being issued a card if they are low-risk and have no symptoms. This is not a COVID-19 test, so there is some concern if individuals are carrying the virus but are not showing symptoms.

All of this can be undone, of course, if the number of cases spikes upwards.

So we need to keep playing our part by following the curfews and lockdowns, washing our hands, wearing masks – and keeping our distance.

This is not the end of the battle to contain the virus – but it is perhaps the beginning of the end. The lifting of more measures and a return to something near normality – and the chance to see our families and friends again – is in sight.

Don’t neglect Dorian victims AS WE focus on the new disaster affecting our islands, we must not lose sight of the previous disaster.

Hurricane Dorian ripped through Abaco and Grand Bahama nearly eight months ago – yet still so much is far from normal there.

For many, the biggest questions surround the people who have gone missing. Liann Key-Kaighin is one of those trying to put her life together without all the pieces of the puzzle – her aunt is one of the missing. Before the storm hit, she said in a phone call that she was born in the house she lived in and she was going to die there. Sadly, that came true – but her body has not been found.

Some of those bodies may be lying unidentified and unclaimed in a refrigerated trailer in Abaco, where 50 bodies were being kept.

The future of those bodies is uncertain at present – with the COVID-19 outbreak delaying a national service for those victims.

For Liann, she believes her aunt’s body is in the trailer, but she cannot get answers about that. She doesn’t even know who to go to at the moment.

So as we deal with COVID-19, don’t let us neglect those still picking up the pieces after Dorian. Their concerns should long have been dealt with before the pandemic – and they don’t deserve to be shunted aside now.

end of each month, on production of his handwritten ON Friday, April 24, invoice.

The Tribune reported In this new era of corona that paperboy Michael virus (Covid 19) pandemic died after a car accident. when there is so much talk According to the newspa- about who is essential and per article, Michael was non-essential worker, I going to the Guardian to would hasten to describe get papers. As he was walk- Michael Johnson as not ing he had a seizure. A car just an essential worker, ended up rolling over him. but also a beneficial worker, He was hospitalised for one especially before the availmonth before he died. ability of online news.

The tragic death sadMichael was one of the dens me, particularly since industrious (hard-workingthe motor vehicular acci- est) men I knew. After he dent victim was personally was done his daily rounds, known to me. He was a instead of taking the rest of newspaper businessman the day off, he went to the who supplied his clients foot of the bridge, at the with daily printed matter intersection of Bay Street to read, ingest, digest, and and Mackey Street, where where necessary reject and he stood in the hot sun, or expectorate. For 25 years in spitty rain (fair or foul (1991-2016) Michael deliv- weather), selling additional ered the dailies to my office, newspapers well into the five days a week, faithfully night. Even on Saturdays and cheerfully, in sunshine he was there, keeping us or rain. He was paid at the informed. All this was

EDITOR, The Tribune

GOVERNMENT should be wary of the voices out there that are using the Covid-19 pandemic to promote their own agendas by advocating fiscal austerity as a response to the crisis.

The economic illiteracy of these voices speaks loudly for itself. Following the last recession, they advocated wage freezes, public sector job cuts and spending limits. It all predictably failed.

Why? Because these measures undermine the consumer demand that is required for any recovery. Applied in the Bahamian context, they to provide amply for his are even more damaging.

Unlike many countries, family.

One day as he leaned the Bahamas government his bicycle up against the already spends too little office door to run upstairs (rather than too much) to drop off the latest jour- on its development needs. geographic charnals, I snapped a photo Its require the of him. I kept that pic- acteristics ture amongst my special replication of social and keepsakes. Regrettably, physical infrastructure over Hurricane Matthew (Octo- an elongated archipelago, ber 2016) did irreplaceable yet its spending relative damage to the contents of to Gross Domestic Prodmy house, including hun- uct (GDP) is among the dreds of pictures, books lowest in the world. Any reduction to this low govand documents.

Michael Johnson’s photo ernment spending not only might have been destroyed, undermines development but nothing can ever goals, but dampens aggredestroy my memory of him. gate demand, which in turn Thank you, Michael reduces growth.

Also, unlike most counfor being faithful, dedicated and committed. To tries in fiscal crisis, The has numerMichael’s family, I extend Bahamas ous ready sources of heartfelt condolences. revenue that it fails to collect because special GEORGE LL interests have its politicians HEASTIE whipped into believing that Nassau, the economy somehow May 13, 2020

My memory of Michael will never fade EDITOR, The Tribune

The last thing we need right now is austerity LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net benefits from not taxing them: these include the taxes on income, wealth and property that make up the bulk of most countries’ revenues. The corollary to this is that taxes on consumption are already way too high and they disproportionately impact the very group whose spending drives the economy.

The spending of working class Bahamians is the principal agency that transforms foreign investment and tourist arrivals into growth in the domestic economy. When you tax their consumption, hold back their wages, cut their public sector jobs or lower their social safety net, you reduce their collective disposable income, leading to lowered economic growth, no matter how good the tourist or investment numbers appear.

The current crisis presents us with an opportunity to end this cycle of low growth and inequity by shifting the tax burden to areas that we have historically taxed too lightly or not at all: incomes of the highest earners and wealthiest corporations, taxes on capital gains and robust real property taxes on luxury, foreign-owned properties.

Consumption taxes (like VAT and duties) should be reduced and gradually eliminated as these more

lucrative revenue sources come on stream.

Minimum wages should be raised immediately – and no, you should NOT reflexively heed the advice of employers’ organizations on the matter. Employers are not economists and the economists who work for them are not paid to be objective.

Further, it is not the government’s job to protect the interests of particular businessmen, but rather the economy as a whole.

And clearly, an economy like ours would only benefit from higher wages for workers, even (or perhaps especially) at the cost of lower profits to employers, an equation that would not only boost consumption but also help reduce the hideous income gap that politicians claim to care about.

For our economy to recover (as it never truly did after the 2008 recession, despite high levels of foreign investment in the last decade and the strongestever tourist numbers last year), working class Bahamian consumers need to have more money in their pockets relative to a cost of living index that is elevated by regressive taxes.

We have now been hit by a monstrous hurricane and a worldwide pandemic in the space of a single year.

The last thing on earth we need right now is austerity.

ANDREW ALLEN Nassau, May 17, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, May 18, 2020, PAGE 7

COURT DISMISSES ATTEMPTED MURDER APPEAL

THE Court of Appeal has dismissed a man’s attempt to have his convictions for attempted murder, armed robbery and burglary overturned.

Omar Miller had appealed his convictions which stemmed from a trial before Justice Estelle Gray-Evans in Freeport, Grand Bahama on July 17, 2018 for which he was jailed for a total of 25 years.

According to the ruling, on March 23, 2016, Anthwan Simms was accosted and forced into his home at gunpoint by three armed men. He and his girlfriend were then robbed of various items and cash and the men shot Mr Simms and left in his black Chevy Colorado truck.

The police were notified

of the incident and when the vehicle was spotted by police it was pursued.

The vehicle stopped and a man got out of the vehicle carrying a brown bag and a firearm which he pointed at the police. The police fired shots at the man who then ran into nearby bushes.

The man emerged from the bushes a short time later suffering from a gunshot wound to his hand. He was arrested and taken to hospital by ambulance.

According to police, that man was Miller. He was later tried and convicted of attempted murder, armed robbery and burglary.

Miller’s appeal was based on four grounds, one of which was that the judge erred in law when she admitted the statements of

Relief as hunting trip trio found

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE FAMILIES of three North Andros residents can breathe a sigh of relief after they were found almost two days after getting lost on a hunting trip.

Police said Theo Saunders, 35, William Mackey, 14 and Farren Storr, 18, were found and safely rescued in the area of Love Creek, Andros. Law officement credited the efforts by officers on the island and members of the community for saving the trio and added they were in good health.

The Tribune understands that sometime around 9am on Saturday, Andros police received a report of missing people. A complainant said sometime around 9am on Friday, the three males went on their trip in the area of South Mastic, Andros and had not returned.

Superintendent James Moss informed The Tribune that a search was conducted in Twin Lakes’ waterway area.

“I can tell you that we have air and fleet patrol being conducted….. So they’re not certain exactly where they are and so we are searching pretty much most of the area where we believed they left from in the Central Andros area and so we are making a

check of all the waterway,” he said.

AUTEC’s Naval Base was assisting and did a flyby on Saturday covering some 30 miles from the Twin Lakes area to their base, according to Superintendent Moss.

Mr Saunders was the first person to be located yesterday afternoon. It is reported by a source close to his family that he made a call saying he was by a house in Sunset Fresh Creek, Andros where his relatives were able to get him.

Busy looking for the other two at the time was Jetlyn Newton - Mr Storr’s mother.

She said: “The person that took them hunting with the truck was on the side of the road waiting on the truck on them and they never came back out. So we started the search from Friday night and we are still on the search now… .I’ve not even getting word. I’ve spoken to one of the fellas what was missing…. He come out and left the other two fellas who couldn’t keep up with him. So we are going there now to go see what we can do to go back, search and rescue to find the other two.”

By yesterday afternoon, the other two hunters were found.

Mr Simms into evidence.

Mr Simms died in January 2018, according to evidence brought to court by the prosecution during trial.

“The evidence related to Mr Simms’ death was produced in the trial albeit belatedly; and although it can be said that the judge ‘jumped the gun’ when she allowed the statements to be admitted into evidence, we hold the view that no prejudice inured to the appellant by this error since had the correct procedure been followed by the judge, the statements would no doubt inevitably been admitted due to the unavailability of the witness and the balancing exercise carried out by the judge,” the Court of Appeal noted.

“Ultimately, we hold

the view that the judge did err when she allowed Mr Simms’ statements to be made a part of the trial at the time she did so; but we are satisfied the admission of the statement did not create any injustice against the appellant and would not have affected the outcome of the trial due to the significant weight of the other evidence adduced by the prosecution against the appellant. In this regard, we would have been prepared to exercise our discretion under the proviso to section 13(1) of the Court of Appeal Act notwithstanding that this ground has been made out.

“There is another reason why this ground should not prevail; and that is because the defence did not object

to the statements’ admission into evidence except to the extent of requesting a portion of one to be redacted. It is a significant development in our law that counsel for the prosecution and the defence are able to stipulate to materials being admitted into evidence during a trial. In our view, the lack of objection by defence counsel to the statements being admitted into evidence is akin to stipulating to their admissibility. Having offered no objection to them in the trial, the appellant ought not to be allowed to complain now.”

The justices continued: “The prosecution presented a strong circumstantial case against the appellant. There was sufficient evidence

adduced by the prosecution through its witnesses to support the judge’s rejection of the no case to answer submission. Indeed, the strength or weakness of the prosecution’s case depended on the reliability and credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses, matters which are in the province of a jury, and we are satisfied that on one possible view of the evidence, the jury could properly have concluded that the appellant was involved in the commission of the offences.”

The appeal was heard by Justices Jon Isaacs, Stella Crane Scott and Milton Evans. They ruled that they harbour “no lurking doubt about the correctness of the jury’s verdicts or that any injustice has been done.”

23-YEAR-OLD CHARGED WITH MURDER WOMAN WHO

DIED IN FATAL CAR CRASH IS NAMED

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A 23-YEAR-OLD man faced court on Friday accused of murder. Nahshon Rolle was accused of killing 17-year-old Jason Joseph. He did not enter a plea.

Rolle was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections.

Rolle had no relatives in court, and

told chief magistrate Joyann FergusonPratt that he did not call his family as he did not know what was going on. He is due to return for a voluntary bill of indictment on September 16.

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

DOUGLASS NAMED FOR US AMBASSADOR from page one Several years ago, Mr Douglass financed a $200,000 recreational basketball/volleyball court and rock climbing facility at the Wemyss Bight Primary School. After Hurricane Dorian, he made an appeal for Bahamians to receive US temporary work permits in order to recover from the storm.

This is the second choice President Trump has made

for a US ambassador to The Bahamas. He initially selected Douglas Manchester, a real estate developer and billionaire, to fill the post. This selection was not without controversy.

In February 2018, Mr Manchester issued an apology after he was accused of having an unsettling management style that allegedly made some female employees uncomfortable. The allegations dated back to a time when Mr Manchester owned The San Diego

Union-Tribune Television, a now defunct TV station he launched as owner of the Union-Tribune newspaper from late 2011 to 2015, according to international news reports.

After being nominated in May 2017, Mr Manchester’s nomination was stalled before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations for some time.

Last year Mr Manchester withdrew his nomination citing threats against his family.

THE woman fatally injured in a traffic accident in Grand Bahama this week has been identified as 77-year-old Ednamae Emmanuel, of Barnette Avenue, Holmes Rock.

The accident occurred on Tuesday shortly after 5pm on Queen’s Highway and Holmes Rock Avenue, involving a red Honda coupe, a purple Acura XS, and a grey Pontiac.

According to reports, Ms Emmanuel was driving a Pontiac west on Queen’s Highway and was turning onto Holmes Rock Avenue when a collision occurred.

The other two vehicles were traveling east on Queen’s Highway.

The male driver of the purple Acura was taken to the Rand Memorial Hospital by private vehicle. He is listed in serious, but stable condition. The driver of the red Honda was not injured.

Police are continuing their investigations into the accident.

PRISON INSPECTOR ON DRUGS CHARGE A PRISON inspector faced court on Friday accused of possession of dangerous drugs.

Kevan Seymour, 47, was arraigned alongside Phillip Smith, 19, and Suzette Wright-Smith, 47, accused of possession of dangerous drugs worth $1,950.

The suspected drugs were reportedly Indian hemp.

All pleaded not guilty to being found with the drugs on May 15.

Chief magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt said it was not in her jurisdiction to grant bail, so the accused have to apply to the Supreme Court.

FAMILY DENIES ‘FAKE NEWS’ ABOUT SON’S DEATH FORMER Transport Minister Neko Grant and his family have hit out at “fake vicious news’’ surrounding the death of his son, Neko Grant Jr. Some had falsely claimed on social media that the government had participated in a “cover-up” relating to Grant Jr’s death.

The Grant family dismissed the unfounded claims in a short statement released by a publicist, which read: “While former Cabinet minister and Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant, his wife Barbara, and close family members are not bothered by the vile, vicious, mischievous, and misleading fake news being circulated about circumstances surrounding the death of their late son and relative, extended family members, colleagues, dear friends, former baseball teammates, young players he mentored and coached, and all who now deeply mourn his passing, should know that he has not visited Florida during this year, 2020.

“It is sad to witness the malicious extreme some

would go. The Grants are truly appreciative of all the calls, messages, and kind tributes being paid to their son; a husband, father, qualified professional, and community contributor with strong international ties.

They humbly ask for their privacy during this time and continued prayers while they thank and trust God.” In a separate statement, the Free National Movement accused Progressive Liberal Party members of spreading “fabricated stories” over the past few days.

“It’s not only unfortunate but abhorrent and downright despicable that the Progressive Liberal Party would seek to spread malicious and fabricated stories in an effort to score political brownie points, even in the midst of a health crisis and the loss of life,” the FNM said. “...Firstly, they sought to malign the character and integrity of one of the FNM’s members of Parliament by insinuating that he was caught in a compromising situation on a local beach, a story that was not only

NEKO GRANT JR silly, juvenile, and offensive, but grossly untrue.

Secondly, notwithstanding the Grant family mourning the death of their loved one, the PLP sought to conjure up a fabricated fake news story regarding a government cover-up surrounding Mr Grant Jr’s death.

“The family has issued a statement confirming that the evil-intentioned social media posts were untrue, and while we do not wish to belabour this point, as no family should have to suffer the nasty and immature attacks that have been levied by the PLP while grieving the loss of a loved one, we are resolute in also affirming that this story is completely false and it’s

sad the PLP leader and chairman have allowed this behaviour to continue unabated and have yet to disassociate themselves from these remarks.

In response, PLP chairman Fred Mitchell accused the FNM of hurling “false and malicious” allegations at the party.

Mr Mitchell said the PLP has issued one statement in connection with Grant Jr’s death, one of condolences to his family, adding that he, as chairman, did the same.

“We repeat our message of condolences to the Grant family and continue to pray God’s comfort and blessing upon them in their hour of grief . . . The fact that this crumbling FNM administration continues to display their fundamental lack of compassion for the Bahamian people, by choosing to deflect from their incompetence and other manifold shortcomings in this way, is beneath us all,” Mr Mitchell added.

Tributes poured in for 43-year-old Grant Jr, an architect and ardent Los Angeles Lakers fan, after his death last week.

The Grand Bahama

Free National Women’s Association issued a statement, saying: “The Grand Bahama FNM Women’s Association and President Katherine ‘Kathy’ Baillou-Munnings and family extend our condolences, prayers and enduring tributes and respect to C Neko Grant and Mrs Barbara Grant, (his parents) and Mrs Renata Grant, the loving wife of our beloved late colleague and friend C Neko Grant Jr. “C Neko Grant Jr was a professional architect and engineer. He was a promising and great Grand Bahamian professional who will be missed. We pray that the love of God surrounds his family. May his beautiful soul rest in peace.”

PLP Philip ‘Brave’ Davis offered the condolences of the Progressive Liberal Party, saying: “The leadership extends sincere condolences to Mr Neko Grant Sr and Mrs Grant on the sudden passing of their son, Neko Grant Jr of Freeport, Grand Bahama. We are extremely saddened by this news. The family is in our prayers.”

Grant Jr is survived by his wife Renata, his children and his parents, Neko and Barbara Grant, and other relatives.

Mr Grant Sr was first elected as the MP for Lucaya on August 19, 1992 when the FNM won the general election for the first time. He was re-elected in March 1997, in May 2002, May 2007 and again in May 2012 for the newly created constituency of Central Grand Bahama.

He retired from politics in 2017.

The FNM’s constituency office for Central Grand Bahama, issued a statement saying: “Condolence is extended to you and Barbara and the grandchildren on the passing of your son Neko Jr from the Member of Parliament, Iram Lewis, Chairman Marco Carey and the executive and members of the Central Grand Bahama Constituency Association.

Our prayers and thoughts are with you in your hour of bereavement and we stand with you as you go through this difficult period.”

MONDAY, MAY 18, 2020

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

‘Nine months on, all we want is an answer - where is she?’

THE DEVASTATION Hurricane Dorian caused to Abaco is plain to see

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net FOR many Hurricane Dorian survivors in Abaco, the process of picking up the pieces of their lives has already begun. But, nearly eight months after the deadly storm hit the islandresidents still struggle to gain a sense of normalcy.

While some find it difficult to cope without modern conveniences and basic necessities on the island, others struggle to find solace and closure from not knowing where their deceased loved ones are, nearly nine months after the storm hit.

And even now, as a new hurricane season approaches on the heels of the COVID-19 threat, a dark cloud still looms heavy on the island - lying at the heart of the ravaged community in a trailer, holding the answers to many questions of grieving residents: is my loved one in there?

Lifelong Abaco resident, Liann Key-Kaighin is one among many who asks herself these questions each day, desperate to relieve the ache in her heart since the storm took her aunt during that fatal summer.

Noting that life for Abaconions has never been the same since the deadly storm in early September, Ms Key-Kaighin said it’s been difficult for her and her

family to fully move on with their lives without knowing where her aunt’s body is located.

“She was basically like my second mother, my mom’s baby sister,” she said, while recalling their precious memories together. “She was very well known around the country and well-loved in Nassau and well-loved here in this community.

“She was living in a home on the front street of Marsh Harbour, right next to Commonwealth Bank (before the storm came.)

“And we pleaded with here for an entire week to not stay there. The whole week, I was like ‘please aunty just come over to mom’s house and let’s all be together. We don’t know what this storm gone do.’

“And by the Friday, she had her house ready and she wasn’t going anywhere.

And in fact, she said to my mother on a phone call that she was born in that house and she was going to die in that house.”

Just as she predicted, Astrid Stratton - Ms KeyKaighin’s aunt - did die in her home. She lost her life to the deadly storm along with three others who sought to seek shelter in the home during the passage of Dorian.

“The four of them were in the house together - the gentleman who worked with me, his girlfriend

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(and) my cousin,” Ms KeyKaighin said. “And the waves took the house and the house is just gone. We found portions of the house half a mile away.”

The whereabouts of their bodies, just like many others on the island, is still a mystery.

Ms KeyKaighin claims her co-worker and his girlfriend’s bodies were found by residents on the island and later taken by Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers.

“We know that the fellow who worked with me, his body was found by another co-worker of mine and they watched him be bagged and tagged and taken by the defence force on day three,” she said. “Until now, the government won’t give me his body and they say they don’t have him, but we saw him get bagged so, where is he?”

“And the girlfriend, her daughter said she saw her get bagged and they denied that they got her body but where is she?”

But, despite their continued efforts to obtain information concerning the whereabouts of their bodies, Ms Key-Kaighin said to this day, she and her family have received little to no answers from government officials.

“It’s been a daily heartache,” she said. “We got to Alabama on September 6 (after the storm) which was a Friday night and Monday morning I was on the phone to Nassau. For four weeks, I spent over $1,200 on my BTC phone bill calling Nassau to try to find out information about my aunt’s body and we still was trying this March and February, even when the COVID-19 was starting and we just keep getting lied to and put off.

“Basically, the last conversation I had with a CDU (official), she basically told that they had Addy for sure because that’s what she’s asking me about a gold chain, a special gold chain.

My aunty had a one-of-akind gold chain.”

LIANN’S COUSIN, Constance Schneider “And when I sent the picture with my aunty’s neck and the chain to the lady, she said ‘don’t worry I’ll be getting back to you shortly’.

That tells me they got a white body with that chain on and I haven’t heard from her since and that was March.”

The government’s “blatant” disregard for those who lost their lives to Dorian, according to the Abaco native, has infuriated grieving residents, who just want answers as to why some nine months later, they cannot receive information about their loved one’s whereabouts.

In the aftermath of Dorian, government officials said they released the remains of several storm victims to their families.

However, officials later said some 50 bodies were left unclaimed and placed in a refrigerated trailer in Abaco.

In March, Disaster Reconstruction Authority officials said they were identifying a date for a national service for those

unidentified victims. But, with the country’s attention now fixed on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not clear when this service will be held.

Amid this uncertainty, Ms Key-Kaighin said it breaks her and her family’s heart to know the remains of her aunt could possibly be lying in that trailer.

“The government is saying that ‘oh, we got 50 bodies in that trailer’, but here’s the thing - a lot of those bodies they could be from The Mudd or the Peas if they don’t have no one to survive to claim them,” she said. “ I believe (my aunt) is in that trailer. “…I work in shipping. My father was a sea captain and now my brothers own one of the ships that bring our groceries every week and I actually am the container maintenance person for that ship, so I have a little idea with refrigerated containers and how they work.

“They was trying to assure us in that meeting like ‘yeah, that’s been on freeze the whole time and

it’s going to be okay and the body’s conditions gone be okay.’ But, every 24 hours those (refrigerators) has to (go on) central.

“They sometimes would come up to even as high as 70 degrees for a period of time, let’s say 20 or 30 minutes or so, so what do you think is going to happen to a body or a piece meat in that period of time and this nine months later?

“I don’t even know who to go to at this point. It seems like the only thing this government fears is getting international spotlight.”

With no clear answers on where her aunt’s body might be located, Ms Key-Kaighin said she and her family does not feel optimistic that that they will ever find her aunt’s body and give her a proper burial.

In fact, she said it would be more comforting for the family to know her aunt floated away in the sea during the storm rather than to be stuck in the trailer under those conditions.

“My mother, in her mind, she’s resigned that there will be no body to bury and, in her mind, she actually hoped she floated away in the sea and for her, it’s better to know that she’s not in the state that she’s in in that container,” she added. “…We did or own memorial service back in February and Mrs Donalee Mackey was instrumental in that and it did help a lot because the community came together. I mean there were like 800 people at that service. It was amazing and that helped my mother tremendously and it was some closure.

“But, of course, having my aunt’s body to bury in the family plot – that would be great but we’ve kind of given up on them because the way that container is set up now, who wants to go in there and sort through any of that?

I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. Half of The Bahamas don’t have a clue.”

Editorial View - Page 6

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, MAY 18, 2020 PAGE 9

We can buy ourselves time but there’s no fix without testing

HEALTH workers are tested for COVID-19

by MALCOLM STRACHAN AS Biminites brace themselves for a painful 14-day lockdown, we are hoping for the best for our brothers and sisters. Knowing how taxing prevention measures have been for many Bahamians, the psychological and socio-economic collateral damage of a two-week lockdown is not to be taken lightly.

With the island’s community already experiencing a major disruption with the collapse of the tourism industry amid the COVID19 global pandemic, closures of small businesses and the inability for community members to share with one another will likely take its toll as well.

All things considered, the challenge health officials are likely meeting here is limited testing capacity.

Of course, most would say that with a population of 2,000, testing each Biminite should be the goal.

However, with mass testing beginning in the last week of April – more than three weeks after the first reported death on the island – health officials are still in a chase. Stating they expect to test between 40-50 people a day, it may take the next 40 or 50 days to test the island’s entire population if it were to proceed without interruption.

In any case, it is unclear if this is even the plan.

Perhaps this is the methodology behind the 14-day lockdown.

Additionally, using a smaller sample size to test how effective this approach would be on more populated islands such as New Providence isn’t necessarily backwards in thinking. Especially as countries around the world continue to throw everything at the wall to see what sticks, we can appreciate our government is no different.

However, mitigation strategies cannot be half-baked.

And to be clear, while health officials have made no indication this would be the direction the government would proceed, citizens should not be naïve in thinking the government wouldn’t escalate to more drastic measures if this experiment pans out to be successful.

Still, we’re not dealing with lab rats. We are all real people.

And although no one can understate the importance of physical distancing measures, most of us could not fathom being forced to be locked down for such a length of time.

With families, some with no one employed in the household, questions surrounding food security and how people will maintain their sanity over the next two weeks are palpable.

In response, the prime minister has time and again stated no one will go hungry, but little comfort has been found in his words for some Biminites who have voiced their frustration in the media.

Such frustrations should not be minimised as the psychological damage is an often forgotten downside to the preventive measures being taken. Unfortunately, in our society, mental health is usually an afterthought with many people left to battle depression and anxiety alone.

On deciding if a lockdown is a good weapon against the pandemic, one study performed by the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team purports that tactically, such measures are done to reduce reproduction. Reproduction, in this sense, refers to the number of people each confirmed case spreads the virus to.

The study points to two routes to reducing reproduction – mitigation and suppression.

Mitigation speaks to the physical distancing and isolation policies we’ve been employing since March. Such methods focus on slowing the spread, rather than stopping it. When circumstances become more severe, suppression is another alternative designed to reverse epidemic growth and reduce cases to lower levels – hence the lockdowns.

On Bimini, an island only a mile wide and seven and a half miles long with a population that lives close to one another, density was likely a major consideration in the Ministry of Health’s recommendation to lock the island down. Population density has been found to lead to nearly twice the rate of transmission, and with there now being 13 cases in Bimini at the time this was written, the little island has the highest number of cases of COVID-19 per capita in the country.

When we look at it from this angle, as painful as it will be, the government’s decision makes sense. Albeit, if an aggressive measure took place sooner after the first case on the island, we may have not been having this conversation.

Now, the best-case scenario is that we all - and Biminites in particular adhere to these policies.

Simultaneously, health officials need to test residents during the lockdown at increased levels.

With evidence in the study using examples from China, Italy and Spain as models of success for intense lockdowns, without testing, once citizens’ freedoms are returned, we continually face a selfdefeating cycle.

Lockdown.

Spread.

Repeat.

The general outcry must continue to be on mass testing. Else, the economic, social and psychological prices we are being asked to pay will not be worth it.

All we would have really accomplished is buying ourselves time. And as we take stock of the global environment as infections and fatalities are still increasing, time eventually runs out.

PAGE 10 MONDAY, MAY 18, 2020

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Love him or hate him, President Trump heads to the polls this coming fall having divided his nation on virtually every issue they face. Around the world commentators have spent the last four years wondering what to make of a President who cares little - if anything - for the thoughts and opinions of anyone other than himself and his immediate family. British writer Nate White has penned the following article which brilliantly encapsulates what the anti-Trumpites think of the president. It is hard to image a Trump supporter coming anywhere near as supportive should they chose to explain why they stand with this president.

So why don’t the British like President Donald Trump?

WHY do some British people not like Donald Trump? A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only

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crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth.

It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.

Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.

Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.

He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fatcat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.

That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all.

He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that: • Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.

He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?’ If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

I

N the wake of a report to the Permanent Council of the Organisation of American States (OAS) on the Guyana general elections of March 2, the Head of the Electoral Mission (EOM), former Jamaica Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, has been accused of being “exceptionally partisan” and “hostile to the nation and people of Guyana”.

Surprisingly, this accusation has been made by Mr Joseph Harmon, a senior official of the APNUAFC alliance and a senior member of the caretaker government in Guyana. I say “surprisingly” because Mr Harmon should know the Office of the President, of which he was - and is - an integral part, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, officially advised the OAS Secretariat that there was “no objection” to Mr Golding leading the OAS EOM for the elections.

This “no objection” came after Mr Golding, in full disclosure and transparency, informed the OAS Secretariat, when approached to lead the team, that he had been, at one time, a guest in the home of Opposition leader and former President of Guyana, Mr Bharat Jagdeo. So, this matter was openly disclosed and the Guyana government registered it had no objection.

For general knowledge, it is worth recording the OAS carries out an extensive search in its appointment of members of EOMs, particularly the people to lead such missions. Mr Golding was approached to lead the mission to Guyana based on his authority as a former CARICOM Head of Government and his knowledge and experience of general elections in the Caribbean.

Members of the team were 17 seasoned experts and observers of general elections from 13 countries. Therefore, when Mr Golding presented an “Update on the Electoral Process in Guyana” to the

INSIGHT

MONDAY, MAY 18, 2020 PAGE 11

Attacking Golding does not change demand for a credible Guyana OAS Permanent Council on May 13, he did so with the full backing of the team that had spent 16 days, observing the run up to the elections, polling day on March 2 and the subsequent debacle that started on March 5 when, unlike nine of the ten regions that had proceeded in accordance with electoral law, the final tabulation of Region 4 was questioned by all the Observer Missions – not only the OAS, but also the missions from the Carter Centre, the European Union, CARICOM and the Commonwealth.

The latter mission was led by another former Prime Minster and senior Caribbean statesman, Owen Arthur of Barbados.

Mr Arthur was an eyewitness to the actual elections and its aftermath, and he and his team have meticulous records on which he will obviously draw when he makes his own public statement. He is not expected to be any less critical of events surrounding the tabulation of Region 4 than was Mr Golding whose remarks at the OAS meeting that he “had never seen a more transparent effort to alter the result of an election”, and that “It takes an extraordinarily

courageous mind to present fictitious numbers when such a sturdy paper trail exists”, are a serious condemnation of the officials of the Guyana Electoral Commission.

It is significant that all the Observer missions, including the OAS, highly commended the “conduct of a credible process” on election day. The problem was not the voting; it was the tabulation of votes in Region 4 where the Statement of Poll by the Returning Officer varied greatly from the Statement of Poll which all the political parties had in their possession, since their agents were present for the counting of each vote.

In this regard, the point made in a joint statement by the CARICOM Group, at the same OAS meeting at which Mr Golding presented his update, is significant. “If each of the political parties genuinely believe it has won, then they should have no fear of the current recount, and they should all support it.”

A credible and transparent recount of the votes over which representatives of CARICOM are scrutineers, and the peaceful acceptance of the result by all parties, are crucial

to Guyana’s future. If the recount is up ended under any pretext and the CARICOM scrutineers cannot pronounce it transparent and credible, the swearingin of any government will be regarded as illegal with grave consequences particularly for those involved.

Guyana, itself, instead of proceeding on a path of progress will be mired in international odium, halting the economic growth and social improvement to which its people have been looking forward.

The international community is giving CARICOM an opportunity to help Guyana out of this morass. In its joint statement at the OAS meeting, CARICOM stated it has “no interest in which political party wins the election; CARICOM’s interest is that, at the end of the recounting process, democracy must be the winner”.

The global community has taken CARICOM at its word, as expressed at the OAS meeting that: “If democracy fails in any CARICOM country, it fails in the larger Community.

As an institution, CARICOM cannot allow this to happen in any member state.” Significantly, OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro declared the OAS is content “at this stage” to support CARICOM’s efforts.

CARICOM’s engagement, by the invitation of Guyana’s President and Opposition leader with the agreement of GECOM, is to scrutinize the recount of

FORMER Jamaica Prime Minister, Bruce Golding the votes “in an effort to see a transparent and credible result, and a legitimate government elected at its end”.

It is in the interest of all the political parties and other actors in Guyana to help themselves by ensuring CARICOM carries out its task successfully. For, if CARICOM is seen to fail, then others will take its place. As the US Ambassador in Guyana recently had to point out, not that the US wishes it, but there could be “serious consequences if the democratic process, the rule of law, and the principles of democracy are not

followed in Guyana”.

The US is not likely to be alone in actions that would have to be taken by regional and international governments.

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

PAGE 12, Monday, May 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

VIRUS HEADING UP THE AMAZON AS NATIVES SUFFER MANAUS, Brazil Associated Press

IN THE remote Amazon community of Betania, Tikuna tribe members suspect the coronavirus arrived this month after some returned from a two-hour boat trip down the Solimoes River to pick up their government benefit payments.

Dozens subsequently got headaches, fevers and coughs. Two died. And the five government medical workers for the community of about 4,000 are not treating the sick because they lack protective equipment and coronavirus tests, said Sinésio Tikuna,

a village leader. So the Tikuna rely on their traditional remedy for respiratory ailments: Inhaling clouds of smoke from burning medicinal plants and beehives.

The Tikuna’s plight illustrates the danger from the coronavirus as it spreads to rainforest areas where tribe members live in close quarters with limited medical services. Most are reachable only by boat or small aircraft.

“We’re very worried, mainly because help isn’t arriving,” Sinésio Tikuna said.

Brazil has Latin America’s highest COVID-19 death toll, with more than 15,000 as of Sunday.

The country’s hardest hit major

city per capita is in the Amazon — Manaus, where mass graves are filling up with bodies.

As Sinésio Tikuna described in an interview his belief that beehive smoke saved four sick tribe members, there was no one at a Manaus hospital to help a feverish woman, struggling to breathe, make it inside the emergency room. A police officer put her on a gurney, wheeling it inside with an Associated Press photographer’s help.

The indigenous people dwelling up the Solimoes and Negro rivers that merge in Manaus to form the Amazon River tried for weeks to seal their reserves off from

the virus, pleading for donations while awaiting government deliveries of food so they could remain isolated. It didn’t come for many, indigenous advocates said.

The Upper Solimoes basin has 44 tribal reserves and has emerged as the Brazilian Amazon’s indigenous infection hotspot. Testing is extremely limited, but shows that at least 162 of the area’s approximately 76,000 indigenous people have been infected and 11 have died. There are more than 2,000 confirmed infections in parts of the area not overseen by the government’s indigenous health care provider.

In a Tikuna village near the border with Peru and Colombia,

the first three COVID-19 deaths were elderly tribe members infected by younger members who left town to receive government welfare payments and trade fish and produce for chicken and other food, said Weydson Pereira, who coordinates the region’s indigenous government health care. “Our biggest anguish today is the indigenous people who aren’t staying in their communities and coming in and out of town. Today the safest place for them is inside their villages,” Pereira said this month, infected and isolating at home with his infected wife and daughter.

OBAMA CRITICISES VIRUS RESPONSE WASHINGTON Associated Press LEFT: Police hand out face masks at Brooklyn Bridge Park; above: Children exercise in Sao Paulo, Brazil; below: the Senegalese Mouride brotherhood practise social distancing at prayers in Dakar, Senegal.

Leaders weigh opening up without a vaccine NEW YORK Associated Press ON A weekend when many pandemic-weary people emerged from weeks of lockdown, leaders in the US and Europe weighed the risks and rewards of lifting COVID-19 restrictions knowing that a vaccine could take years to develop.

In separate stark warnings, two major European leaders bluntly told their citizens that the world needs to adapt to living with the coronavirus and cannot wait to be saved by a vaccine.

“We are confronting this risk, and we need to accept it, otherwise we would never be able to relaunch,” Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte said, acceding to a push by regional leaders to allow restaurants, bars and beach facilities to open today, weeks ahead of an earlier timetable.

The warnings from Conte and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came as governments worldwide and many US states struggled with restarting economies blindsided by the pandemic.

With 36 million newly unemployed in the US alone, economic pressures are building even as authorities acknowledge that reopening risks setting off new waves of infections and deaths. In the US, images of crowded bars, beaches and boardwalks suggested some weren’t heeding warnings to safely enjoy reopened spaces while limiting the risks of spreading infection.

Britain’s Johnson, who was hospitalised last month with a serious bout of COVID-19, speculated yesterday that a vaccine may not be developed at all, despite the huge global effort to produce

one. Health experts say the world could be months, if not years, away from having a vaccine available to everyone.

“There remains a very long way to go, and I must be frank that a vaccine might not come to fruition,” Johnson said.

The coronavirus has infected over 4.6 million people and killed more than 314,000 worldwide, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University that experts say under counts the true toll of the pandemic. The US has reported over 89,000 dead and Europe has seen at least 160,000 deaths.

Some experts noted recent infection surges in Texas, including a 1,800-case jump on Saturday, with Amarillo identified as a growing hot spot. Texas officials said increased testing was playing a big role — the more you look for something, the

more you find it. Many are watching hospitalisations and death rates in the weeks ahead to see exactly what the new Texas numbers really mean.

But Texas was one of the earliest states to allow stores and restaurants to reopen, and some experts worry it is a sign of the kind of outbreak re-ignition that might occur when social distancing and other prevention measures are loosened or ignored.

Dr. Michael Saag at the University of Alabama at Birmingham called Texas “a warning shot” for states to closely watch any surges in cases and have plans to swiftly take steps to stop them.

“No one knows for sure exactly the right way forward, and what I think we’re witnessing is a giant national experiment,” said Saag, an infectious diseases researcher.

FORMER President Barack Obama has criticised US leaders overseeing the nation’s response to the coronavirus, telling college graduates in an online commencement address that the pandemic shows many officials “aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”

“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” Obama said. “A lot them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”

Later, during a second televised commencement address for high school seniors, Obama panned “so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs” who do “what feels good, what’s convenient, what’s easy.” “Which is why things are so screwed up,” he said.

Obama did not name President Donald Trump or any other federal or state officials in either of his appearances. But earlier this month, he harshly criticised Trump’s handling of the pandemic as an “absolute chaotic disaster” in a call with 3,000 members of his administrations obtained by Yahoo News.

The commencement remarks were the latest sign that Obama intends to play an increasingly active role in the coming election. He has generally kept a low profile in the years since he left office, even as Trump has disparaged him. Obama told supporters on the call that he would be “spending as much time as necessary and campaigning as hard as I can” for Joe Biden, who served as his vice president.

INDIA SURPASSES CHINA IN CORONAVIRUS CASES NEW DELHI Associated Press

INDIA’S coronavirus infection cases have surpassed China’s with the health ministry on Saturday reporting the spike to 85,940 cases with 2,752 deaths.

In total, China has reported 4,633 deaths among 82,933 cases since the virus was first detected late last year in the central city of Wuhan.

The worst hit Indian states are Maharashtra with 29,100 cases, Tamil Nadu 10,108, Gujarat 9,931 and New Delhi 8,895.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is due to announce this weekend a decision whether to extend the 54-day-old lockdown.

Early this month, it started gradually easing the restrictions to resume economic activity by allowing neighborhood shops to reopen and manufacturing and farming to resume. It also has resumed a limited train service across the country to help stranded migrant workers, students and tourists.

South Korean officials say they so far confirmed 162 coronavirus cases linked to club goers in the densely populated Seoul

metropolitan area, but also expressed cautious hope that infections are beginning to wane.

Health Ministry official Son Young-rae on Saturday said the country may have ducked a major surge in transmissions in a region where half of its 51 million people live, pointing out that the daily increase in infections have been within 30 over the past days despite a jump in tests.

Son said 46,000 have so far been tested after health workers earlier this month detected a slew of infections linked to clubs and other nightspots in Seoul’s Itaewon entertainment district. “It’s notable there were no new transmissions in churches, call centers and gyms where virus carriers went to,” Son said.

He said this was a sign that facilities and businesses are properly practicing hygiene and enforcing distance between people, which he said would be crucial as the country explores a more sustainable form of social distancing.

Authorities had expanded what they call “anonymous testing,” which allows people to provide only their phone numbers and not their names for COVID-19 tests.

SPORTS SECTION E

MONDAY, MAY 18, 2020

‘I would love to be home’

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

W

hile he was not fortunate to get out of the United States of America before the Bahamas Government closed its border for international travel because of the spread of the coronavirus, former Major League Baseball player turned coach Antoan Richardson is making the best of his conditions in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The 36-year-old switch hitting centre fielder with a .350 professional career batting average was participating in the San Francisco Giants’ major league training camp in January. When the pandemic hit the USA, he was originally scheduled to travel home on April 1, but the Bahamas border was closed around March 27.

“It was unfortunate. I wished that I had been a little more decisive and I had gotten back home,” he told The Tribune yesterday. “I trust that God has a plan for us all and this is the plan that he has for me.

I would love to be home, but I feel I’m in a safe spot, so I’m staying as active every day as best as I can.”

Arizona was among those states that have currently reopened, but Richardson said they are still taking the necessary precautions as there are reportedly about 679 confirmed deaths from over 13,000 cases in the state.

There are almost 90,000 deaths from over 1,500,148 cases throughout the USA. Worldwide, there are about 4,664,486 cases and over 300,000 deaths recorded so far.

“They are allowing us to go into restaurants and stuff like that. The numbers are not so high, but it seems as if it’s not been as drastic as it was in some other parts of the United States,” Richardson stated.

In February 2019, Richardson was named as a field

coordinator and minor league outfield coordinator for the San Francisco Giants, who then named him their first-base coach under new manager Gabe Kapler, with the added responsibility of coaching Giants baserunners and outfielders.

“It was a fun learning experience. Obviously this would have been my first time doing it as a coach,” said Richardson about his transition from playing to being a scout and now as a coach. “You have to go into it obviously with the idea of bringing some information to help the players and staff, but also that there is a lot to learn.

“That is what I’m trying to do. There’s a lot to be learned about the game. So I’m just trying to continue to grow as a coach in the game that I have played so long. So it’s been a really cool experience. When the lockdown happened there was a lot of uncertainty about what we were going to do. That was why I think I got stuck over here instead of coming home.”

Once they sorted out what direction they were going to take, Richardson said they began ensuring that everyone stayed healthy and safe as they connected through Zoom conferences and giving them drills and activities that they could perform while they were away from the game.

It was the Giants who signed Richardson after they took him in the 35th round of the 2005 Draft and he went on to bat .321/.465 (4th in the league)/.378 with 45 runs (tied for the league lead), 44 walks (leading the league), 7 sacrifice hits (tied for 2nd in the league), 8 hit by pitch (tied for 5th in the league) and 40 stolen bases (leading the league) in 193 at bats for the Rookie AZL. “It’s still a little surreal.

I think this journey that I’ve been on since I left the Bahamas, you don’t

SEE PAGE 14

PAGE 15

JOSEPH NAMED MOST VALUABLE TRACK AND FIELD TEAM MEMBER

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Major League baseball player turned coach Antoan Richardson is making the best of his conditions in Scottsdale, Arizona.

TRAVIS Joseph’s stellar freshman season was recognised by his Valley City State Vikings when the programme announced its postseason awards.

Joseph was named the Most Valuable Team Member from men’s track and field for a record-setting indoor season in the NAIA, highlighted by a high jump national championship title.

Joseph leapt 2.10m at the NAIA Nationals in Brookings, South Dakota, to win just the fourth national championship in Vikings programme history. He passed two heights and missed his first two attempts at 2.07m before the meetwinning clearance.

“I couldn’t be more proud or excited for Travis,” Vikings head coach Laquone Robinson told the school’s athletic website.

“The last few months have brought plenty of challenges for him, including a big move and a new college.

He has faced a great deal of adversity off the track and today was no different.

“He cleared his first jump and had to wait over 90 minutes to clear his next jump. That’s a long time to stay physically prepared, but even more of a challenge to stay mentally focused.

“I am proud and honoured to celebrate his accomplishments with him.

I look forward to seeing the achievement and success to come in his future.”

Joseph was one of several Bahamians to earn NAIA All-America honours, including Antonishka Deveaux of Indiana Tech (4x400) and Coshan Campbell of Wayland Baptist (4x800, DMR, 600m).

Rising tennis star Major Jr off to promising career

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net HE’S off to a promising career as one of the rising young tennis players in the country. But like everybody else, Michael Major Jr has been forced to work out from home with no activities for players in the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association or the International Tennis Federation as a result of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But unlike some of the other young players, who are subject to the same conditions, Major Jr has the full support from both of his parents, Bernadette ‘Chips’ and Michael Major Sr, to help him get through the 24-hour curfew and weekend lockdowns imposed by the Bahamas government to avoid the further spread of the virus in the country.

Major Jr, who turned 14 on Wednesday, May 6 with a birthday cake, some sushi and a time to play some video games, said it has been a vigorous process, but he’s taking it in stride, working on his physical fitness.

“Since I already have the stroke aspect of tennis, I have been trying to get my body physically stronger,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot of strengthening workouts, flexibility and things like that.”

Confined to home, Major Jr said his parents have insisted that he continue to work hard in practice and apply himself academically so that whenever school resumes, the ninth grader at St John’s College will be prepared to

continue his studies. “You have to have the mentality that you want to be the best and in order to be the best, you have to work hard,” he said. “It’s basically you putting it in your head that you want to be the best tennis player ever. You can’t think about being mediocre.

You have to think about being the best.”

Right now, he’s enjoying the online classes, which enables him to “do all of my work at once, instead of having so much break and then I can have the rest of time off to train and do other things.”

But Major Jr said he was eager to see if he could have duplicated last year’s feat as the No.1 male player in the under-14 and under16 divisions, even though he would have been moved up to the under-18 category this year.

“I wanted to break all of my records from last year,” said Major Jr. “But it’s kind of disappointing because I knew I became a better player this year and I could have done some things phenomenal, so from that aspect, it was kind of disappointing.”

It’s a lesson learned for Major Jr, but his mother Bernadette, said it’s a labour of love giving her son all of the support that he needs at this time.

“This is a pandemic, so there’s nothing that we can do about it,” she said. “The Prime Minister has mandated that we stay at home, so we make sure that MJ still has his classes. I am working from home as well, so I help my husband to make sure that MJ properly juggles his time. “Right now, we are basically focusing on his physical

MICHAEL Major Jr stays in shape. fitness level because he’s not on the tennis court. So we do a lot of fitness with him from between 4-6pm. We set that time aside from Monday to Friday for him to do that. So far, it’s been working out pretty well. He can’t wait to get back on the tennis court.”

Major, who got her son involved in the sport from an early age, said they miss the camaraderie being around the tennis court with the other players and parents, but they try to manage the circumstances that they all find themselves in until the sanctions are lifted.

“We are making sure that he stays healthy, eats the proper food and do what he needs to do,”

stressed Major, a banker by profession. “So far, it’s been working out.”

As for his academics, Major said they were looking at a home school programme to place their son in, but her husband wasn’t quite sure if it was the right way to go.

She noted that they are now forced into a “trial basis” to see if this is the direction they will take moving forward.

“Once the wifi continues to function and the lights stay on, we can manage it,” she stated. “But for the most part, he’s actually focused. He knows his schedule.

Once he has his breakfast, he logs into his studies and gets his work done. I think he just misses being around his friends in school from that social aspect.

“But so far it’s been working out very well because my husband is really big on his education. I like balance. I focus on education too, but I like the balance.

I believe that while he has to do his studies, he can still train and get some time to play some video games.”

Now a full-time tennis mom after she retired as one of the country’s top female pitchers in the sport of softball, Major said there’s no question as to where her interest is right now.

“I love watching my son play, but if you get me on the softball field, I could still jam,” said Major, who officially hung up her cleats and gloves in 2006 when she gave birth to her son.

“I felt I had my time playing sports, so it’s my son’s time. I now have to be there for him. I have no

regrets. I’m still staying in shape because I have no other choice having a son who is an athlete.”

There’s no doubt about it that whenever Major Jr is playing, either locally or on the international scene, you can guarantee to see either one or both of his parents on the sidelines watching and cheering him on.

“MJ can’t practice on the court, but he’s still training,” said Major Sr, a croupier at Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. “He’s doing everything like the warm up drills, running around the house and still using his tennis racket, but hitting the ball against the fence and the wall, just to stay in shape. He’s doing that every day, twice a day.”

Not known for any sporting prowess like his wife, Major Sr said whenever his son is not getting his coaching lessons from veteran tennis player/coach Marvin Rolle, he’s there to help encourage Major Jr, whom he stressed is self motivated to do what is necessary to get through a working session. “You tell him what he needs to do and he does it,” Major Sr said. “He knows how to follow instructions and he’s a very focused young man.”

Once the national sanctions are lifted and sporting personalities can resume their normal life, Major Jr said he will be more than anxious to get back on the court and playing tennis than anything else. “I want to be able to play division one tennis,” said Major Jr, who hopes to one day become a professional tennis player. “I can’t wait to start playing again. I still have a lot more to accomplish in this sport.”

PAGE 14, Monday, May 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Start your engines: NASCAR roaring back during pandemic

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Ready or not, NASCAR is back, but without fans, flyovers or commercialism. Darlington Raceway opened its 70-year-old gates so engines in the stock car series could roar again and the revenue flow would resume.

NASCAR’s return started yesterday morning as teams began filing into Darlington at designated arrival times. A checkpoint at the gate allowed pre-approved personnel into the infield after a health screening. There is no exiting once inside NASCAR’s designated footprint, all part of a meticulously planned health protocol.

NASCAR chose Darlington, the oldest speedway on the Cup circuit, as the safest place to restart the season after eight events were postponed and the series sat idle for 10 weeks. Facing a financial collapse if live races didn’t get going on national television, NASCAR had its health plan approved in South Carolina and North Carolina and released an aggressive revised schedule.

Sunday marks the first of 20 races across seven Southern states between now and June 21. All eyes will be on NASCAR and its protocols — representatives from IndyCar and the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, among others — were expected to observe the screening process Sunday.

The first event is called the “The Real Heroes 400” and is dedicated to health care workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The names of health care workers across the country have been substituted for the drivers’ name above the door on each of the 40 cars.

The health care workers will give the command to start the engines.

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer

KEVIN Harvick does a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series auto race yesterday in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) “These heroes will signal that NASCAR has returned, bringing back the intense competition and side-by-side racing we’ve all missed,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps wrote in a letter to fans released Sunday morning.

“Our drivers, race teams and officials have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to get back to the race track and we want to assure you that we have taken the return to racing very seriously.”

Darlington is hosting three events over four days. Roughly 900 people have been approved to be inside the gates, and all are considered essential. Teams were allowed

16 employees per car, including the driver and owner. But most owners gave up their slot because they are either over the age of 65 and at high risk for the new coronavirus, or their role at the track is not considered critical to the competition or broadcast of the event.

Participants are not being screened for COVID-19 but will undergo temperature checks as they enter Darlington and throughout the day. Drivers must isolate until they are called to their cars, and everyone including crews must wear a face mask, including drivers at least until they get in their cars. “While activity

leading up to the race will feel different, the minute the green flag drops, our drivers and crews will be back to doing what they do best,” Phelps wrote. “We know this pandemic has impacted all of you and the communities in which you live. NASCAR has been, and will always be, about our passionate race fans and the community of racing to which we all belong.

“We look forward to the day we can return with fans at the track, but until such time our promise to you remains the same — to put forth the best race and racing experience possible every time we hit the race track.”

Antoan Richardson: ‘I would love to be home’ FROM PAGE 13 question stuff that happens anymore,” said the original former 400 metre runner coming out of Grand Bahama. “You just enjoy the ride, enjoy the journey and thank God for being great. I think that is what it comes down to. I realised that the Father has the ability to do whatever he wants to do and I just try my best to sit back, enjoy the ride and do whatever road he takes me down.”

Richardson became the sixth Bahamian to play in the Major Leagues when he was called up for the first time by the Atlanta Braves on September 4, 2011, and recorded his first career hit - a single to right field - off of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw in his first career Major League at bat. He had another sting in the Majors with the New York Yankees in 2014.

First drafted in the 27th round in 2001 out of high school, Richardson eventually signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers on April 29, 2016 after being released by the Pirates just two days prior.

The Dodgers subsequently released him on June 22, 2016 after he hit .222 in 15 games for the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers before he retired on March 7, 2017, at 33 years of age.

WHO HEAD URGES GLOBAL UNITY TO HELP MAKE TOKYO OLYMPICS SAFE

Now that he’s back into the league and looking forward to his first coaching sting, Richardson said there is going to be a lot of changes whenever sports resumes, not only in baseball, but in all other disciplines and from an international perspective as it pertains to the fans’ participation as a result of the social distancing encouraged to help combat the spread of the virus.

“I still think they (Major League) are in the process of trying to decide the best way forward,” Richardson said. “We have to make sure about the public safety and that of the coaches and players is at an all-time high. When we start to play, I imagine that there will be no fans.

“So if we don’t have no fans, we will have to do our best to really, really compete hard. I think everybody in the Bahamas will be watching us on TV and cheering for their favourite teams, hopefully we will have some coming over to the Giants, if they are not with us yet.”

For the Bahamas, which is still experiencing a 24-hour curfew and weekend lockdowns to help combat the spread of the virus here where there are almost 100 cases with 11 deaths, Richardson advised the public to continue to follow the

ANTOAN RICHARDSON directions given by the government. “This is something that we have to do together, if we want to get through it,” stated Richardson, who has formed a non-profit organisation called Project Limestone to assist Bahamian youths learn to respect their peers, work together and to define their goals in the classroom, in sports, and

in the community. “It is important to kind of love on each other right now and use this time as an opportunity to do some things that you couldn’t do before. “Use this time to spend more time on the phone and social media with your loved ones. But also know that this too shall pass and at some point, we will be able to do

some of the things that we were accustomed to doing.

The message is to do it together. As a unit, we can get through this. I just want to encourage people to finds ways that we can get through this.”

As soon as this is over and done with, Richardson said the first thing he would like to give somebody is a big hug. “We as Bahamians love to hug,” he said. “So I just want to be able to hug somebody and let them know that I really care about them.”

Before he began his pro career, Richardson left St Anne’s to attend American Heritage High School in Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Florida, where he played baseball and football and was class salutatorian. As a senior he was named to the 2001 Class 1A Allstate high school baseball second team by the Florida Sports Writers Association.

He then attended Palm Beach Community College on an athletic scholarship, passing up an opportunity to attend Brown University and Vanderbilt University where he played college baseball. He graduated from Vanderbilt in December 2008 with his degree in engineering science. Now that he’s back in the Major Leagues as a coach, Richardson said he’s hoping that one day he can become the manager of a team.

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organisation said Saturday it will not be easy to make next year’s Tokyo Olympics a safe global gathering after the pandemic.

Speaking at a joint news conference with the IOC, the WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “national unity and global solidarity” to fight the coronavirus outbreak ahead of the Olympics. The Games, postponed this year, should bring athletes from more than 200 countries to Japan.

The Summer Games opening ceremony is now due on July 23, 2021, after the International Olympic Committee and organisers in Japan used WHO advice in March before agreeing a one-year delay.

“We hope Tokyo will be a place where humanity will gather with triumph against COVID,” Tedros said at WHO headquarters.

“It is in our hands, but it is not easy. If we do our best, especially with national unity and global solidarity, I think it’s possible,” he said.

Around 11,000 athletes from more than 200 teams are due to compete at the Tokyo Olympics. Most would be joined by team officials staying in an athletes village complex of 5,600 apartments at Tokyo Bay. Health experts, including in Japan, have questioned how the 33-sport Olympics can be run before an effective global vaccine programmeis in place.

“Nobody can at this moment in time really give you a reliable answer on how the world will look like in July 2021,” IOC president Thomas Bach acknowledged.

“It is too early to start speculation on different scenarios and what it may need at the time to guarantee this safe environment for all participants.”

Tedros and Bach signed a renewed working agreement between the two organisations, which aims to help promote sport to governments as part of an active and healthy lifestyle.

“The Olympics or athletics or football is not just for the athletes only,” Tedros said. “It has to be a culture for everybody and it has to be everybody’s responsibility.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, May 18, 2020, PAGE 15

ALL LEAGUE TEAMS CLEARED TO START GROUP TRAINING IN SPAIN

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — All Spanish league clubs can begin group training sessions this week despite stricter lockdown restrictions remaining in place in parts of Spain because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cities like Madrid and Barcelona have not been allowed to loosen confinement measures like most of the country has done but teams such as Real Madrid and Barcelona have been given the go-ahead to move into the second phase of training.

The league has told clubs that on Monday all players can start small group sessions regardless of the lockdown phase in their regions. Players had only been allowed to train individually across Spain until now.

The Spanish government has been gradually easing lockdown restrictions that had been in place since mid-March because of the pandemic, with different levels of clearances from region to region. Teams in Madrid and Barcelona theoretically would not be

allowed to start training in groups if the government hadn’t created exceptions.

“It’s a good thing because it allows all teams to practice in a similar way,” Spanish league president Javier Tebas told league broadcaster Movistar yesterday. “It’s important for all the teams to be able to start on an equal footing.”

Teams in regions with tighter restrictions will be allowed to practice with 10 players in the same session, while clubs in areas with fewer restrictions can use up to 14 players. Teams in the latter regions also can make greater use of their facilities, reaching up to 50 per cent of their capacity.

The rest of the clubs can only use up to 30 per cent of the facilities.

Group meetings between players and the coaching staff are also now allowed in some regions if distancing guidelines remain in place, and referees are now being allowed to train in sports facilities.

The next training phase will allow for clubs to start full squad sessions.

Barcelona on Sunday showed the team’s training centre being disinfected,

LIONEL Messi trains in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday May 8. Soccer players in Spain returned to train for the first time since the country entered a lockdown nearly two months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP) with workers in protective suits spraying the dressing room and even what appeared to be the players’ soccer boots.

Clubs and players have been asked to follow strict

health safety guidelines during training. Players, club employees and everyone else involved in the training sessions have to be tested daily for COVID-19.

Five players from teams in

the first and second divisions tested positive before the individual practice sessions resumed.

Tebas had said he hoped for the league to resume on June 12, with games in

empty stadiums, but on Sunday he emphasised that it will be up to local authorities to decide when the league can actually restart.

“I want it to be as soon as possible, but the date will be determined by the health authorities,” Tebas said. “We have to wait for what they tell us.”

The government said media outlets will be permitted on site when the league resumes, but it wasn’t clear if it meant only broadcasters. The media has not been able to attend training sessions.

The Bundesliga this weekend became the first main soccer league to resume, and Tebas said he expects the Spanish league’s eventual return to competition to look very similar.

“We have congratulated the Bundesliga,” Tebas said. “They put in a lot of effort into this. It’s an example to follow.”

More than 27,000 people have died with COVID-19 in hard-hit Spain.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Saturday said he will ask Parliament for what he hopes will be the last extension of the state of emergency.

VIRUS TESTS ON EPL PLAYERS AHEAD OF RETURN-TO-TRAINING TALKS

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer MANCHESTER, England (AP) — After watching the Bundesliga resume, English Premier League clubs will try on Monday to agree on protocols to allow a return to training during the coronavirus pandemic.

Teams have already started checking players and coaches for the coronavirus, with a total of 1,600 weekly tests anticipated across the 20 clubs in England’s top division.

With Britain suffering a worse coronavirus outbreak than Germany, the sports shutdown is yet to end and players would have to

remain socially distant for now in training. But the Premier League has government backing to pursue restarting games in June if there is no new spike in COVID-19 cases across the country.

Sunday should have been the last day of the season but, instead of Liverpool completing a title triumph, coronavirus testing was taking place at clubs.

Up to 40 players and coaches at each club were due to be tested for the coronavirus across Sunday and Monday. A further wave of testing will take place across the 20 clubs later in the week in a bid to detect infections.

In recent weeks, players have only been carrying out some

individual fitness work on fields at some training grounds.

But the socially distant team training could start on Tuesday if the protocols are agreed on by executives from the clubs during their latest “Project Restart” conference call on Monday.

Contact training would be prohibited until approval is granted by the government, which has said games could resume in June — without fans in stadiums.

Some players and managers have expressed concern about returning to training since Britain has Europe’s highest virus death toll as well as the most confirmed cases. “You’d need a full four to five weeks (training), especially

if you’re going to go back into competition, when you’re literally paid to win,” Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling said in a YouTube interview with United States captain Megan Rapinoe.

“You do need to do that preparation. You can’t just go straight in.”

The aspiration of resuming the league in the week beginning June 8 now appears hard to achieve.

Liverpool led the league by 25 points with nine games remaining when the season was paused in March.

England’s deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, said last week they will assess how the phased return of training goes

before they “even think about moving on to the return of competitive football matches. We have to be slow. We have to be measured.”

Britain reported yesterday that 170 more people have died from the coronavirus, raising its overall death toll to 34,636.

It is the lowest daily death toll since the day after the country’s lockdown was announced on March 23, although weekend figures are usually lower because reporting lags when compared with weekdays.

Another 3,142 people in Britain tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of total confirmed cases to 243,303.

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PAGE 16, Monday, May 18, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

NEW MLB RULES: SHOWER AT HOME, DON’T SPIT, MR MET STAY AWAY

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball WriterQ NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball will look somewhat like high school ball this year under protocols to deal with the new coronavirus, with showers at ballparks discouraged and players possibly arriving in uniform, like they did when they were teenagers.

Team personnel will be banned from eating at restaurants on road trips.

Even the Phillie Phantic and Mr Met will be missing, banned from the field along with all other team mascots.

The traditional exchange of lineup cards would be eliminated, along with highfives, fist bumps, and bat boys and girls, according to a 67-page draft of Major League Baseball’s proposed 2020 Operations Manual.

A copy was sent to teams Friday and obtained by The Associated Press.

The guidelines, first reported by The Athletic, are subject to negotiation with the players’ association.

Teams will be allowed to have 50 players each under the plan, with the number active for each game still be negotiated.

Spitting is prohibited along with water jugs and the use of saunas, steam rooms, pools and cryotherapy chambers. Hitting in indoor cages is discouraged, batting gloves encouraged.

Batting practice pitchers are to wear masks, dugout telephones disinfected after each use. Players may not touch their face to give signs, and they’re not allowed to lick their fingers.

Teams are encouraged to hold meetings outdoors, players spread apart.

Teams were asked to respond with their suggested input by May 22.

The protocols were written

by MLB senior vice presidents Patrick Houlihan, Bryan Seeley and Chris Young, and vice president Jon Coyles. Young is a

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former pitcher who retired after the 2017 season.

Protocols include details on testing for team staff, who are divided into three tiers. All others may not enter clubhouses, dugouts and the field.

Seats in the empty stands near the dugout should be used to maintain distance, according to diagrams in the manual, and the next day’s starting pitcher can’t sit in the dugout. Everyone must keep their distance during “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America,” Fielders are “encouraged to retreat several steps away from the baserunner” between pitches. First and third base coaches are not to approach baserunners or umpires, and players should not socialise with opponents.

Managers and coaches must wear masks while in the dugouts. The entire travelling party -- including players -- must wear personal protective equipment while on buses and flights.

Restaurants are off limits on the road, including the ones in hotels, as are hotel fitness centers.

“We emphasise that this is a first draft, and will undergo several rounds of changes as we collect comments and suggestions from the clubs, the players’ association, players, and government officials,” deputy commissioner Dan Halem wrote in an email to owners, team presidents and CEOs, and general managers that accompanied the protocols.

“The document is designed to set minimum standards and identify best practices, but we have attempted to provide clubs with enough flexibility to achieve the desired health and safety objectives in a manner that is tailored to their particular circumstances, including ballpark configuration, location, and the nature of any local governmental regulations or restrictions,” Halem wrote.

ROYALS bench coach Chino Cadahia (15) and St Louis Cardinals first base coach Chris Maloney (37) exchange line-ups with home plate umpire Rob Drake (30) before a baseball game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. in 2013.

(AP Photo/Orlin Wagner) Scoreboard video is prohibited but music allowed.

While there won’t be fans, at least not at the start, it will provide a familiar background audio for the telecasts critical to MLB’s bottom line.

A ball will be thrown away after it is touched by multiple players, and throwing the ball around the infield will be discouraged. Personnel who rub baseballs with mud for the umpires must use gloves.

“Individuals must avoid any physical interactions (such as high-fives, fist bumps, or hugs) while at club facilities,” the manual says.

Tier 1 people in the plan include players, managers and coaches plus two each from among physicians, athletics trainers and bullpen catchers plus one strength and conditioning coach.

Tier 2 includes clubhouse staff, additional coaches, medical and training staff, travelling staff, owners, front office, translators, communications staff, video personnel, the head groundskeeper and security plus players’ union and MLB staff along with contractors.

Tier 3 covers broadcast personnel and other event services. Players must wear masks while in restricted

areas “except while on the field or engaging in other strenuous activities” and lockers must have at least 6 feet between them. If needed, temporary clubhouse space will be added, preferably outdoors or areas with better ventilation.

“Showering in club facilities should be discouraged,” the plan says. “To the extent showering occurs, clubs should explore modifications to facilities to allow for physical distancing and hygiene” such as installing partitions and limiting the number of players using the showers at the same time.

Teams “should consider requiring (on-field staff) to arrive at club facilities dressed for the day’s activities in order to limit time spent in the clubhouse or locker room.”

Only medical personnel allowed near injured players.

There will be staggered reporting dates for the resumption of spring training. When pitchers and catchers arrive, only five players may work out at a time. Then come full team workouts, with small groups encouraged but not required, followed by exhibition games. There will be intake screening upon arrival followed a selfquarantine for 24-48 hours

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until results are available.

Players not assigned to big league team when the season starts will remain at spring training or another separate facility.

All games at spring training facilities in Florida and Arizona, whether exhibition or regular season, must be scheduled for 7-9pm local time unless MLB gives specific consent.

A fifth umpire would be allowed when the temperature reaches a certain level, allowing for rotation, including sharing of plate umpire duties, Teams should take batting practice on back fields.

Among the road trip changes: — Use of Uber, subways and public buses is banned.

— Private airports encouraged and if not available, teams are to use private aviation facilities to board and exit.

— Transportation Security Administration screen should take place at ballparks if it can be arranged.

— In-flight catering is limited.

— Lower floors are to be used if possible at hotels, so stairs can be used instead of elevators, and private areas arranged for entrances, exits and check-in.

— Six staggered bus trips will be scheduled to and from the ballpark.

Team staff, including players, will be given thermometers for self screening and are to take two tests in quick succession each morning.

At the ballpark, people will be given temperature checks twice a day and multiple fluid swabs each week.

Comprehensive Drug Testing will collect samples and Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City is to provide results within 24 hours.

Family members of players, umpires and the households of anyone covered under the plan will be offered access to testing and PPE. The individuals are encouraged to avoid crowd when away from ballpark.

Anyone with a temperature of 100 or higher or who exhibits COVID-19 symptoms or has come in contact with someone confirmed to be infected will be subject to rapid testing at a nearby site. A person cannot rejoin the team until testing negative twice in tests taken at least 24 hours apart. The person also must not exhibit symptoms or COVID-19, and the team physician and MLB medical staff must determine the person not at risk.

If an individual is exposed to a person with an infection, that person must show no signs of disease, be tested daily for at least seven consecutive days and undergo more frequent temperature checks.

The person also must wear a mask at all times except while on the field.

Each spring training and regular season ballpark must have dedicated testing and isolation areas.

MLB also will offer testing of people who live in same household as covered individuals and to health care workers/first responders in big league cities.

Most tests will take saliva but there may be oral or nasal swabs. Blood samples will be collected less frequently for serology testing used to detect antibodies.

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