 Welcome to NTN Nightly, I am Anicia Antoine, this edition's top stories. Adherents to COVID-19 protocols detects a new case of COVID-19. The Ministry of Health's rigorous pre-testing policy is credited for protecting the island from COVID-19 as borders opened. And, dengue fever poses an increasing threat during the rainy season. The adherents to COVID-19 protocols has assisted the Ministry of Health and detected a new case of COVID-19, bringing the number of confirmed cases in St. Lucia to 26. Dr Sharon Belma George is the island's chief medical officer. Results received on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 reveals that St. Lucia has recorded a new case of COVID-19. The case is a 32-year-old female who traveled from the United States and has been in government quarantine from arrival. She is stable and will be transferred to the respiratory hospital for care. This brings a total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 to date to 26. A total of 4,768 tests have been conducted to date. As we manage new cases and investigate possible contacts, the public is advised to take personal responsibilities to protect themselves and the family. We advise against mass crowd gatherings. We advise on responsible behavior without unnecessary panic. The public is also advised that all of the protocols are still in place. These also include the use of face masks in public places and to maintain safe physical distance from others. We appeal to everyone to continue supporting our national effort to minimize the threat of COVID-19 on our island. The five respiratory clinics remain open to facilitate any one of respiratory signs and symptoms or any concerns. Also, the 311 hotline is available where questions or concerns can also be addressed. We continue to advise on the importance of maintaining the standard recommendations for infection prevention and control. These include regular hand washing with soap and water or the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer where soap and water may not be available. And to cover your mouth and nose with disposable tissues when coughing and sneezing. The Ministry of Health and Wellness will continue providing further updates on COVID-19. Tourism Minister Hon. Dominic Fede has lauded the national fight against COVID-19 as St. Lucia is rated number one in the Caribbean for the national COVID-19 response. In a comparative data analysis of confirmed COVID-19 cases per 10,000 population, St. Lucia has a rating of 1.4. Minister Fede says government's position on testing played a pivotal role. More from Lisa Joseph. The government of St. Lucia has been firm on its position of pre-testing for anyone coming to the island amid the COVID-19 pandemic. When the island's borders reopened to international travel on June 4, 2020, travelers were asked to provide a negative COVID-19 test result 48 hours before arrival. There was widespread concern about the measure from the public and stakeholders which subsequently led to a revision of 72 hours. With the island's own testing capacity beefed up, the reopening of the tourism sector on July 9, 2020 saw the protocol further revised to provision of a negative test within seven days of travel to St. Lucia. Tourism Minister Hon. Dominic Fede says the unwavering stance has served St. Lucia well in the COVID fight. We were hauled over the coals by many stakeholders, not just in St. Lucia locally and internationally, for the rigid pre-testing mechanism that we have put in place to ensure that we can sustain the opening of our tourism sector. And today I would like to say that we have been vindicated by ensuring that we stay the course and remain very strict as it pertains to the pre-testing protocol. The setting up of the health facility at the Hironora International Airport for the screening and processing of passengers, the minister says, has added tremendous value to the national effort against the pandemic. Since July 9, some 5,000 visitors have been welcomed to the island, a stock number to the hundreds of thousands who flocked before the deadly pandemic struck. That means that we're somewhere up to about just around 10% of our pre-COVID capacity. Nowhere we would like to be, still a lot of catching up to go, but what we have to do is to continue to build up momentum. We're confident that as we continue this phase and this phase continues to be successful, what will happen is we will see more hotels coming into the fold. Some 13 hotels have already opened their doors, providing employment for over 2,000 employees within the tourism sector. Our last count has shown there are some 500 taxi drivers who are operationalised. Minister Fede says despite the low load factors, airlines continue to show confidence in the island's future. The airlines that would have come to St Lucia ordinarily would have had a load factor of about 80-85% in some instances on key markets. Now we're seeing an average of about 30%, so you can tell that it's very very difficult on testing times for a number of stakeholders within the sectors. The hospitality sector again continue to experience low occupancy levels and those occupancy levels are a cause for much concern when you think of the profitability of the various hotels on the island. And so what we've got to do is to do our best to keep working with them to try to create the best enabling environment to try as much as we can to incentivise our hotels to keep operating as we get through this rather difficult time. The tourism minister assured that government will maintain the health of all citizens as its main priority even as it seeks to protect livelihoods. From the Government Information Service, Lisa Joseph reporting. Meantime the national COVID-19 protocols guiding the reopening of the economy will be reviewed August ending. Health Minister Senator Mary Isaac says the assessment of the opening of borders is critical to the decision making process. Well you know we said we are going to test this open borders for a 30-day period and that comes to an end at the end of August. So then we are already discussing and looking at how it is working out. So given that we have another two weeks in August, we are going to keep looking and seeing what is happening. We also look at other countries, what is happening in other countries in the region and then we can take a decision based on what we have experienced for the past 30 days, what we experienced and then we can decide how we move forward. With several Caribbean islands rolling back measures in the face of increased cases of COVID-19, Senator Isaac says government will not hesitate to act similarly if such a situation presented itself in St. Lucia. The state of emergency which is in effect, the Minister reminded, will easily facilitate that. If we have to roll back, I think we will do it smoother than we did the last time. Minister for Health and Wellness Senator Mary Isaac. Minister with responsibility for physical planning Hon. Harold Stanislaus has reiterated government's commitment to guarding the right of citizens to access all beaches on the island. The assurance comes amid public concern regarding the proposed Cabot St. Lucia Development at Cape State. The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a lease of the Queen's Chain adjacent to the development site for 75 years. However Hon. Stanislaus says the approval does not bar St. Lucia's from accessing the Casabar Beach. The Cabinet conclusion clearly states that Cabot Development had a surplus on the parcels of land, it was already in existence. Those leases were issued to Cape State Limited in 1973 for 75 years. There is a 28-year grace period and time remaining on those leases. And basically the Cabinet conclusion is an extension of those leases to another 75 years. Secret Beach, Casabar Beach, Donkey Beach, none of those beaches were leased to Cabot Development. So in essence the beaches remain public. In fact all the beaches on the island remain public so that citizens have unlimited access to the beaches. There should not be any impediments of our citizens for the use of our beaches for recreational purposes. The Physical Planning Minister says the Government is aware and sensitive to the concerns surrounding the continued operation of Marjory's restaurant which has been a staple at the Casabar Beach for more than 20 years. Marjory Lambert in 2001 was issued a lease for five years for the block and parcel that her establishment is situated. Miss Lambert currently holds a one-year lease. We are not going to infringe on the rights of Miss Marjory or prevent Miss Marjory from earning a living which she has been doing so for about 20 years or more in this particular area. There will be discussions with Miss Marjory and the developers and also with the Parliamentary Representative Honourable Motut and the Department of Physical Planning on the way forward. But we are going to do everything within our powers to work with the developer, with Miss Marjory and all stakeholders who currently have establishments on the beach at Casabar. But I want to reinstate again the beach is public. There is going to be unrestricted access to the Casabar Beach, to Donkey Beach, to Secret Beach by the citizens of St. Lucia. Leasing of the Queen's Chain, Minister Stanislas says, has been practiced for decades. You have a lease in 2000 there between the state and the business for the Queen's Chain. You have amphitheatic leases for 75 years, 99 years. In 2005 we had leases. In 2004 we had leases of the Queen's Chain. In 2006 we had leases of the Queen's Chain. I could go on to this other section right there, those other leases. We had leases in 2008, amphitheatic leases of the Queen's Chain. We had leases in 2011, 99 year amphitheatic leases, two hotels, two developers. We had amphitheatic leases issued in 2008 again in 2009, 2014. So this is not something new. This is not a new practice, it's not a new policy. This has been a policy and initiative, a practice of governments since the 1970s of leasing of the Queen's Chain to developers, to persons who own property adjacent to the Queen's Chain. Again, all beaches are public. There is unrestricted access to the beaches either by foot or vehicle access. There are certain properties where you do not have vehicular right of way on the map sheet or the land registry, so persons usually access those beaches by foot. There are beaches where there is unrestricted vehicular access. If you come in by sea, you could access any beach on the island for recreational use. Kabot Saint Lucia has submitted a master plan to the Department of Physical Planning. Honourable Stanislas says the department is processing the proposals in phases. Upon final approval, the minister stressed, there will be no restricted access to the Kazabah beach. Health officials are ramping up efforts to protect the population from dengue fever. The Ministry of Health has noted an increase in the cases of the vector-borne disease. With the rapid onset of the rainy season, the Ministry of Health and Wellness continues to encourage individuals to maintain health and safety measures to prevent the local transmission of dengue fever. Dengue fever is one of the most common vector-borne viral diseases affecting humans and is transmitted through the bite of the female Aedes aegyptis and, through a lesser extent, the Aedes albopictus. For serotypes of dengue exist, however, persons receive lifelong immunity against a serotype once infected with it. Only serotypes two and three have been recorded to date in Saint Lucia, with the majority of the cases being children. Dr. Michelle Faswa is the national epidemiologist in the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Normally, when you get one type of dengue, you are predisposed to a more severe form. So, that one type, you get lifelong immunity to it, but not to the other three. So, for example, if I get dengue serotype one, I am immune to it for the rest of my life. However, if I do happen to get a type two or type three or type four, with each progressive infection, I am more at risk of developing a more severe form of the illness. And this is why, with the circulation of two serotypes in Saint Lucia, as well as the one, two and three in our nearby countries, we are very vigilant and very concerned about this. Chief Environmental Health Officer in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Parker Ragnanen, also highlighted the intervention measures being undertaken by the Environmental Health Division, including Lava Siding and Foggin. Foggin is one of the treatment measures that I implemented to kill the adult mosquito. But if that adult has laid eggs already, the eggs will not die. The lava will not die. The pupa that is in the water drum will not die. And so you might pass around and fog the area, kill the adult mosquito. But in two days' time, you have new kids on the block. New adult mosquitoes are formed. Householders and property owners are encouraged to inspect their household at least twice a week in an effort to contain the AIDS-Egypti mosquito population. Persons are also advised to avoid the indiscriminate dumping of garbage, which also serves as breeding ground for the mosquito. Ragnanen explained the importance of the community working together to prevent the local transmission of dengue fever. Very often, what we find is one household is doing all that it can in taking the preventative measures. But two houses away from you, nobody cares. And mosquitoes have a reasonably long flight range. They can travel up to a mile depending on the wind direction and wind speed. So that means if you are to look at a safe zone, you need to look at a one mile perimeter from where you live. Because it means that if somebody has dengue fever and they are living half a mile from where they live, it is possible that a mosquito can, by that person, get infected. And when that mosquito gets infected, we say technically the mosquito becomes infective. And when you have an infective mosquito, it can fly from half a mile to another person that distance. And by that person, that person can get the dengue fever as a result. The Ministry of Health and Wellness urges persons who may be experiencing signs and symptoms of dengue fever to seek care at the nearest wellness center. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting. This is NTN Nightly. Up next, Primus Hutchinson with the NTN Louvello Quaiol. If you are in receipt of an abnormally high bill, it is highly possible that you have a leak. That leak may not always be visible. Before you contact WASCO, conduct a do-it-yourself test. 1. Record your meter reading. 2. Do not use water for 30 minutes to 1 hour. 3. Take another meter reading. If the reading changes, you have a leak. Contact a plumber to identify and fix the leak at the earliest. A message brought to you by the Water and Sewage Company Incorporated, WASCO. Welcome back. We now join Primus Hutchinson for the NTN Louvello Quaiol. Thank you so much, Anisia. Thank you Madam Department for the WASCO's ability to inform the Government on this matter. This is GIS, the National Television of the NTN. This is the news of Quaiol. This is Primus Hutchinson. Since the 14th anniversary of this incident, I have found Limoyon in Kawebla to address the coronavirus. We have analyzed the number of people in Kawebla who have been infected with COVID-19. This is the first time that the whole country has been infected with COVID-19. This is a record of the number of people who have been infected with COVID-19. Minister of Health, Senator Hon. Mary Isaac, declared that the biggest accomplishment of this is because the citizens of the country are in a very bad state. Minister Isaac added that it is not possible to say that we are not safe with the coronavirus. Because the coronavirus is still the cause of the vaccine for the patients. And that if the coronavirus is spread to the citizens of the UK, the rest of the country will die. Minister Isaac said that if the virus is spread to the citizens of the UK, the rest of the country will die. But the coronavirus is still the cause of the virus spread to the citizens of the UK. It is very important for the citizens of the UK to control the coronavirus. Minister Isaac said that the countries that are infected with COVID-19 will die. And the rest of the country will be in a very bad state. But the country that is not illegally affected with the coronavirus, is the one that is causing this disease. Minister Isaac said that the virus spread to the citizens of the UK and the rest of the country will be in a very bad state. Minister Isaac said that the virus is spread further in the country. He said that it is spread further in the country because the citizens of the UK are living among the people. We have a lot of work to do, we have a lot of work to do in order to help people, to help the family, and to help them with their responsibilities. Because we have a lot of work to do, we have a lot of money, we have a lot of bills to pay, we have a lot of work to do to help the family. I started with the month of Avui, but with June, I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. It's a six-month Salah program that I discovered. For this month, I paid $29.7 million. For this month, I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. For this month, I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. For this month, I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. In total, I paid $4800 million. In total, I paid $4800 million. In total, I paid $43,000. In total, I paid $49,000. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. I also had to add a Salah program to continue July with September. Thank you very much for watching and I wish you all a lot of good luck and see you in the next episode.