 Welcome to NTN Nightly, I am Genelle Norville, this edition Stop Stories. National cultural icon Honourable Charles Cadet has died, living a treasured legacy. The use of monitoring devices for home quarantine comes into effect. And the Department of Education is developing an academic recovery programme to offset lost instruction time. Saint Lucia has lost an illustrious son of the soil. National cultural icon Honourable Charles Cadet died Sunday 17 January 2021 after a prolonged illness. The renowned composer was 96 years old. Honourable Cadet was born on December 16, 1924 into a family with an intense love of music and was well endowed with the musical talent to express that love. In a statement, the Cultural Development Foundation, CDF, highlighted his service to the government and people of Saint Lucia in a distinguished career of some 40 years. Honourable Charles Cadet served in several capacities including Permanent Secretary, Councilor for Trade for the OECS Sub-Region from 1976 to 1986, Acting High Commissioner to London 1986 to 1987. He was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire 1987 and Saint Lucia Cross in 2005 in recognition of his distinguished and outstanding services. He was the first recipient of the MNC Fine Arts Lifetime Achievement Award. His compositions shall see Marianne, an poinsettia blossom, remain classics and relevant in today's society. Meanwhile, Minister with Responsibility for Culture and Creative Industries Senator Honourable Fortuna Bell-Rose has described Honourable Charles Cadet as a national and treasured gem. Jesse Leos tells us more. The Government of Saint Lucia pays tribute to the late cultural figure Honourable Charles Cadet who passed away over the weekend. A prolific composer, Cadet is remembered for his invaluable contribution to arts and culture, having penned the iconic tunes for the play Banjo Man and the musical Chanson Marianne, the Guitar Man Song, the Legend of Tom Fool, the wonderful world of Brother Rabbit and last but certainly not least, the classic Christmas record Poinsettia Blossom. Cadet also served the Government and People of Saint Lucia in a distinguished career spanning 40 years in several capacities including Permanent Secretary, Councilor for Trade for the OECS Subregion 1976 to 1986 and Acting High Commissioner to London from 1986 to 1987. On behalf of the Government and People of Saint Lucia, we really want to extend sincere condolences to the family of Honourable Charles Cadet. Charles, as you know, was a phenomenal Saint Lucia. He contributed significantly to the development of our folk music. He also was a public servant extraordinaire. What I got most out of him was a continuous desire to perfect the craft in every possible way. Cadet has over the years received many awards for his musical genius and service to country. They include the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for 2012, the Saint Lucia Cross for Distinguished and Outstanding Service to Saint Lucia in 2005 and the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1987. He had received the recognition in our society. I think what we need to do and to continue to do as a country is to ensure that the legacy lives on. The work that he did, the standards and values that he expels is what as a society we need to continue to foster. Charles was committed to his craft. He was a perfectionist and these are lessons that we continue to learn and we want to value to ensure that our citizens continue in that vein. I know the Folk Research Centre, the Cultural Development Foundation, these institutions are grieving because of his loss, but I know that they had worked with him daily. The work that he has done will continue to live on, not only in terms of the documentation but in the hearts and lifestyles that we live as citizens of this country. Honourable Charles Cadet passed away at 4 o'clock Sunday morning, 17 January 2021 at the age of 96. For the Government Information Service, I am Jesse Leance reporting. The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations has informed that the Barbano Secondary School will revert to distributed learning from the period January 18 to 20, 2021. The decision was taken out of an abundance of caution for students, staff and the wider community as some of the teachers may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus. The Department assures that it continues to work with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and other stakeholders for the safe and healthy teaching and learning environment. The Department of Education is monitoring the situation and will inform of any major developments. And noting the concerns of the public with relation to the reopening of schools, Minister for Education Honourable Dr. Gail Rigabet says her ministry is committed to ensuring the safety of all in the education sector. A comprehensive plan is in place to help officials assess and respond swiftly to any eventuality. Chief Education Officer Dr. Fiona Philip Meyer says while the protocols aimed to protect students, the Department of Education cannot do it alone and requires the assistance of all stakeholders including parents. So we want to reassure our parents. At every instant that there is a parent in quarantine, as long as we are made aware, the communication chain kicks in. So at no point will the principal be unaware of a case of a parent. Similarly, there is a great responsibility on the part of parents of guardians of adults to speak to their own circumstances and to inform the schools of possible cases. The basic protocol for us is that when an adult in the same household, a parent, a guardian is in quarantine or is a confirmed case, the child remains at home as a precautionary measure. And so we want to emphasize that in a big way. We want to remind our general public of their own sense of responsibility of doing the correct things, being models for our children, but also being responsible in the sharing of information. We note at times, you know, things are forwarded and sometimes that does more to create panic and to make people anxious. But as responsible adults, we need to check for reliable and relevant information from the confirmed sources, from the adequate sources so as to mitigate any such impacts and not be negative to our students. As cases impact the nation and by extension the education sector, these will be managed as per the Ministry of Health's protocols. The Department of Education will continue communicating with the affected parties within the education system as it manages individual situations. Michelle Chas is the Permanent Secretary in the Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations. We would like to reassure the public, concerned citizens, particularly our parents, our students and our staff, that all the efforts of the Ministry is get towards ensuring a safe and healthy environment for our stakeholders, our students and our staff. We have and we continue to work closely with the Ministry of Health to ensure that all of our protocols and our policies are aligned with local, regional and international standards. For there to be a successful outcome in this current environment, this requires a strong collaborative approach and critical to this engagement is the involvement of parents. While we are the Department of Education, we work to ensure that we put in place everything necessary to mitigate the risk of transmission within our school setting, we would require all of our stakeholders as well to recognize that they too have as greater responsibility and their efforts are necessary to ensure the success through all of this. Permanent Secretary in the Department of Education, Michelle Charles. Still with education, recognizing that students have lost a significant amount of instruction time as a result of the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations is channeling efforts into ensuring that students are able to make up for lost time. As such, the department is currently working on an academic recovery program. Dawson Ragamanan is the Deputy Chief Education Officer. It is a program that is going to look at the various gaps, it is going to look at the various weaknesses and so that we can ensure that we are able to meet and that we are able to put measures in place so that we can meet the needs of the students. The thing about it is, it is starting off right now, but we are encouraging and we are going to be working with our teachers and we are looking at the extent to which we can provide special programs for our students, especially for the online modality. Looking at ways in which we can provide experiences for our students and we are talking about extra experiences, not just in the classroom, but when they leave the classroom, we want to provide them with those opportunities. The Deputy Chief Education Officer indicated that provisions will be made for any child seeking additional lessons at the schools. All protocols here short will be followed as the safety and well-being of students come first. Ragamanan explained that the lessons will enable students to catch up with the lost instruction. We are working with our Camdo officers, these are our curriculum officers to find ways to bridge that gap because we recognize that our students have lost. Again, we are looking at the examinations and again, looking at the examinations, looking at what the students have done and how the examinations would match the instruction in the classroom. So that is always important because that determines the validity of the examinations. So we will continue to work with them and ensure that we can meet the expectations. Deputy Chief Education Officer Dawson Ragamanan, this is NTN Nightly, please stay with us. In an effort to ensure patient and first responder safety, the St. Lucia Fire Service has reviewed its patient transfer procedures, especially for patients with respiratory distress. Face masks will be provided. At no time during transportation should the face mask be removed. Please be patient and cooperative during this time to ensure you receive the best possible care while keeping our first responders safe. Welcome back. The Ministry of Health is continuously working to keep citizens safe from the COVID-19 virus by improving its response measures to quarantine. More in this report from Fonelle Neptune. The Ministry of Health is well on its way to improving its surveillance of people on home quarantine through the introduction of innovative technology. The introduction of the two electronic monitoring devices, the bio-intellicent, bio-button, and the amber wristwatch is expected to come on stream on January 18, 2021. Acting national epidemiologist Dr. Dana Gomez explains the purpose and benefits of the bio-button. The bio-button is a disposable, one-time use body sensor about the size of a quarter designed to be worn on the left side of the chest. It is small and unnoticeable. It monitors the vitals of quarantine persons who may be at high risk for developing COVID-19 disease. It also provides continuous temperature, respiratory rate, and heart rate measurements to the user. In so doing, it enables the early detection of potential cases. Dr. Gomez also spoke on the capabilities of the amber wristwatch. Through its geofencing capabilities, it ensures that persons wearing the device remain within the confines of their home as per home quarantine protocols. It also allows for the monitoring of vitals of the quarantine individual. This means that should persons develop symptoms during their quarantine period, this would be detected by the Department of Health. Through improved monitoring, this device will aid in the nation's COVID-19 response plan by limiting the spread of the disease as it helps to ensure that persons remain at home during their quarantine period. The bio-button will cost US $100 for the 14-day period and the amber wristwatch will cost US $75 for the 14-day rental. Reporting from the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, I am Fenonetian. Here is additional information on the monitoring devices. It must be purchased by all persons who have been granted home quarantine between the ages of 18 and 65 years. The bio-button is purchased as persons apply for travel to St. Lucia at the website of the St Lucia Tourism Authority, www. It allows for more persons to be granted home quarantine. It allows for critical response times by the Ministry of Health in the event that someone on home quarantine has developed any symptoms of COVID-19. It ensures improved compliance of persons on home quarantine. It improves data collection that enables better decision making. It also helps with contact tracing. Both of these devices will be installed by train technicians at the ports of entry. Upon completion of the 14-day quarantine cycle, the bio-button can be discarded whilst the wristwatch can be removed at designated wellness centers in each health region. These electronic devices provide multiple benefits to the Ministry of Health and to individuals on home quarantine. If you are a resident in the United States of America, the order can be placed to your residents or you can choose to pick up the device at the port of entry. If you are a resident outside of the United States, the device can be picked up at the port of entry on arrival. The wristwatch, however, is purchased at the port of entry on arrival. All activities from these devices are monitored remotely in country. The bio-button communicates via an app which must be installed on the mobile phone of all persons granted home quarantine. The wristwatch communicates via GPS signaling. Acting National Epidemiologist Dr. Dana de Costa Gomez The Rotary Club of St. Lucia brought good chair over the holiday season despite the coronavirus. Coordinated efforts at the Ancillary R.C. Infant School ensured a center session for the students. Jesse Leos looks back on the community goodwill of the Rotary Club. With or without COVID, there was no way we were not going to have this project this year. The Rotary Club of St. Lucia is one of the charities that adapted to save Christmas 2020 from COVID-19. The club spread holiday chair to the students of the Ancillary R.C. Infant School, coordinating a safe way for the kids to receive their toys from Santa Claus. At one point we thought we might not have been able to do it, but there's really no way we could disappoint children at Christmas time. It was a challenge for us, but we were able to separate the kids according to the classes like kindergarten and grade one or grade two, and they came in batches. So they all had their masks on, and we were able to separate them so that they all came and collected their gifts, their meals in a safe way. And I think it worked pretty well. This is the second time in the last five years that students from this infant school have enjoyed this Yuletide gesture. An appreciative school principal also remarked on the opportunity that the activity gave him and his teachers. So it gave us that opportunity as well to see our kids since we have not seen them in almost three months. And we are grateful to the Rotary Club, of course, for always bringing good cheer to the children. When they came in today, we saw how excited they were, and that brings joy to us as well. Other activities on the Rotary Club's outreach schedule for Christmas and New Year's include the island-wide distribution of 150 food hampers to the less fortunate and 300 meals in their quarterly feeding program on January 2. For the Government Information Service, I am Jesse Leons reporting. That brings us to the end of NTN Nightly. Join us next time at 7 p.m. with a repeat at 7 a.m. You can also catch up with us anytime on the St. Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am Channel Novel.