 Coming to you from RGIS Studios, I am Anicia Antoine and this is your midday news brief. Results received on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 reveal that Sinusha has recorded a new case of COVID-19. The case is a 32-year-old female who travelled from the United States of America and has been in government quarantined 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 the Ministry of Health manages new cases and investigates possible contacts, the public is advised to take personal responsibilities to protect themselves and family. The public is also advised against mass crowd gatherings. The Ministry of Health and Wellness would also like to advise the public that all protocols are still in place. St. Lucian's are continuing to benefit from the Economic Relief Program administered by the National Insurance Corporation, NIC. The program provides financial support to the thousands of NIC contributors who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the NIC has paid out $36.2 million to 15,805 contributors. Initially making payouts for April, May and June 2020, the NIC extended the Economic Relief Program for three more months considering the ongoing adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business sector, including the hotel sector, which employs a significant number of its contributors. The National Insurance Corporation has issued a call to employers to update their personal information given that hundreds of St. Lucians are now returning to work following the reopening of economic activity. The Economic Relief Program forms part of the government's social stabilisation plan in response to the COVID-induced economic crisis. The Ministry of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development is confident that it has developed a comprehensive strategy for the implementation of the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment, CPEA, which replaces the common entrance examination this September. Officials believe that the CPEA will better afford all students a more rounded education experience as well as enhance access and equitability in education. The Ministry has held a number of fact-finding missions in order to establish best practices and has created a system of support for each of the eight school districts. An officer has been assigned to work alongside education officers, curriculum officers, numeracy and literacy officers, principals and teachers. Training is also being provided to address identified areas of deficiency. This has been your Midday News Brief. Thank you for watching.