 Welcome to NTA Nightly. I am Genelle Norville. This edition stops stories. Health officials taught the Victoria Hospital soon to be transformed into a full-scale respiratory hospital. The Ministry of Health and Wellness focuses testing strategy on frontline workers and repatriated nationals. And the Ministry of Agriculture engages banana stakeholders on the way forward. The Ministry of Health and Wellness remains committed to making available a respiratory hospital to be utilized for suspect and confirmed cases of COVID-19. More in this report from Fernelle Neptune. Minister for Health, Senator the Honourable Mary Isaac, along with a delegation, recently taught the Victoria Hospital, which is being transformed into a full-scale respiratory hospital. Senator the Honourable Mary Isaac says she's very pleased with the work being done on the respiratory hospital and hope it will assist in handling a possible surge of COVID-19 in Zinc-Losha. I'm hoping that we will be able to use this facility to contain the virus, to manage the virus and to treat the virus, which is what we have been doing, but we have not been as focused as we would like to be in terms of having the proper facility. So this facility is going to give us an opportunity to have a better place to bring these potential cases and for us to take care of these cases in a very nice facility. It's already looking very, very nice. The rooms I saw, the size of the rooms, the rooms have their own toilet in both cases or sometimes a person may be sharing a toilet with somebody else. But it's looking excellent from now, from what I have seen. Chief Health Planner Dwight Khalix spoke on the need for government to undertake this project of significant importance. As part of the COVID response, we had to get an intervention where we could appropriately manage our patients. So there's quarantine, there's isolation and so on. So the respiratory facility was at this point, it would have managed in terms of our quarantine patients, but there was quarantine patients which would have required medical attention. So our quarantine facility in the north would take care of those persons who are the suspect cases within for their results. This facility would be the same suspect case within for results but require medical attention. Executive Director of OKUH and Victoria Hospital Nancy Francis highlighted the management of the works undertaken as to ensure the smooth running of the project. We have constructed ongoing construction works over at the respiratory hospital. At the same time, we have patients coming to receive care. So we have to ensure that the logistics is carefully coordinated between our project team, the contractor and the World Bank team. So we have on ground our hospital engineer who's working very closely with Scali Construction as well as the oversight committee from the World Bank. So on a daily basis, our project engineer will be in contact with Scali Construction so they can look at the logistics for the day. And from a management perspective, every single day we have a manager on ground at the respiratory hospital to ensure that things are coordinated in the right way and we are able to respond to any emergencies that may arise. The Victoria Hospital is designed to treat patients with respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 and will have the capacity of 85 rooms. Reporting from the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, I am Fena Neptune. As of June 9, 2020, St. Lucia has recorded a total of 19 confirmed cases of COVID-19. 18 of these cases have fully recovered. The last case was a repatriated cruise national and was recorded on the 4th of June 2020. St. Lucia continues to receive repatriated nationals including students, cruise workers and residents who were stranded during the border closure. They are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine at a government designated facility where testing is done as per protocol. Chief Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr. Sharon Belmar George explained that during the past few weeks, the ministry's testing strategy has been focused on frontline workers and repatriated nationals. We also continue testing the patients who access care at the respiratory clinics and the community level. Over 67 physicians and nurses were tested and over 152 fire service and emergency medical technicians and fire service officers were tested at this time. We continue to note negative test results for the frontline workers and persons who access care at the respiratory clinics. We've carried out a total of 1,204 tests to date. The Ministry of Health and Wellness would like to alert the public that as we open up the sectors, the risk of transmission increases. We can reduce this risk by ensuring the public health and social measures are maintained. We also anticipate new cases. However, if we all comply by the guidelines and maintain them, the possibility for transmission is minimized. The Chief Medical Officer explained that the hurricane season brings with it new health threats and urged the public to prepare accordingly. Although our focus has been on COVID-19, we must prepare for the hurricane season as it commenced on June 1. This period of increased rainfall also signifies increases in vector-borne diseases such as dengue fever and leptospirosis. We advise the public to pay special attention to the immediate surroundings to ensure it is clean and not providing a breathing ground for mosquitoes and rats. The vector awareness planned by the Ministry of Health will be launched later this month. That was Chief Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr. Sharon Melmar George. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Natural Resources and Cooperatives recently held a consultation meeting with banana stakeholders with a view over pricing stakeholders of the current situation with the agriculture sector. Stakeholders highlighting the issues currently plaguing the sector also offered recommendations in the hopes of arriving at solutions. Details in this report. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Natural Resources and Cooperatives recently held a consultation meeting with banana stakeholders so as to update them on the state of the agriculture sector. The St. Lucia National Fair Trade Organization and stakeholders also seized the opportunity to provide recommendations to ministry officials as to find solutions to the many challenges currently plaguing the sector. Some of the issues highlighted by stakeholders include the drought, quality of bananas available for export, inability of wind-fresh UK limited to pay farmers and the emergence of pests threatening the production of crops. Chair of the St. Lucia National Fair Trade Organization, Eustace Monroe's indicated that the lack of payment for produce is adversely affecting farmers. We have been selling our fruit every week but unfortunately we have not been able to get our payments. Consequently, farmers are starved of getting the weekly payments and those payments is absolutely necessary. This is the payments that they would use to operate the farms. This is a cash flow that they need in basic operations like paying for farm labor and especially on a harvest day. So this is one of our key challenges at present and what we have seen with the decimation of this drought that we would need some kind of assistance in relation to inputs and also to the rehabilitation of our farms. So this is a really, really huge challenge that we are facing at this time but we believe with government assistance the way forward we should be able to overcome this challenge. The chair explained that funds from the government of St. Lucia had assisted in paying farmers however since that payout some seven weeks have elapsed and farmers have not been paid despite continuing to produce for sale. The issue according to Monroe's lies primarily with Winfresh UK Limited the entity purchasing goods from the farmers. He noted however that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Natural Resources and Cooperatives Honourable Ezekiel Joseph has promised to address the issue. Honourable Joseph indicated that a meeting had been held with Winfresh and all relevant stakeholders. An independent body was hired to review the operations of Winfresh UK Limited so as to be able to make recommendations to ensure viability and highlight that type of restructuring required for its survival. I spoke with the Chairman of Winfresh who is a gentleman Arthur St. Vincent and he told me that the report is in circulation. It came out this morning. I thought to review the report and in the coming week we will meet as a board to review the report and of course to go back to the stakeholders, the respective Prime Ministers to review the report and to see what other recommendations we can implement short, medium and long term. So as far as the company in the UK, it has been, we are well on our way in looking at this company and to see how we can restructure this. Definitely the company is experiencing a lot of financial difficulties and as shareholders we believe it is indeed first to intervene at this point in time. The Minister expressed that it is only right that the Ministry of Agriculture lobby on behalf of farmers so as to ensure they are paid for their goods. The government he noted continues to inject resources into Winfresh UK Limited to ensure it is able to pay farmers including the recent contribution of 1 million dollars. The Minister did admit however that this was unsustainable thus making the restructuring of the entity necessary. Minister Hon. Joseph explained that farmers will be receiving assistance with the other challenges. We know that we have a problem with the Miliburg which we have just gotten a report from the research departments informing us that they got the identification then from a company in the US. So we are now putting in place protocols as to how we can reduce the population of the Miliburg. So we are waiting for the company now. We are sorry we are waiting for the company but we are waiting for the stakeholders including the BPIP and the research department to come up with a programme that is an accosting for that programme. So we in the Ministry can look at and see where we can get resources because we have a post-COVID assistance programme coming up so to see how we can support our farmers in reducing the population of that Miliburg. The Ministry of Agriculture and by extension the Government of St. Lucia reaffirmed its commitment to assistance inclusion farmers where possible ensuring a thriving agriculture sector. From the Government Information Service, I am Janelle Norville. The Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School last Friday hosted the closing ceremony for the first ever next big inventor competition. Anisia Antoine tells us more. The Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School hosted the closing ceremony for the first ever next big inventor competition. The competition was created by philanthropist and entrepreneur Joshua Esnad with the aim of encouraging entrepreneurism and innovation by young persons and provided an opportunity for the students of the Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School to display their ideas by demonstrating their products. The students presented their inventions and innovations to an audience of the public as well as to an expert panel comprising entrepreneurs, financers, media experts and the creator of the competition, Joshua Esnad. Michelle Samuel, co-founder and managing director of the next big inventor competition expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Education for endorsing the project. This is a competition that was created by one of our very own son of the soil, Joshua Esnad. For those of you who do not know, he is the inventor of the cut body and he is an entrepreneur at heart and a philanthropist. And part of his giving back movement was creating this competition so that he can reward and encourage young persons such as yourselves to create life hacks for problems that you can identify every single day. And I am glad to state that the Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School answered the call to be part of the pilot project. Philanthropist and entrepreneur Joshua Esnad made a presentation to the students congratulating them on a job well done. Look at what you did. You identified a product, a problem, identified a solution, created a product, basically built a brand. Many people can't even do that or haven't done that in their lives. So you're part of the 1% of 1% of 1% that have succeeded in creating a whole program or business and to make it a better world, a better island and to help your island be more sustainable. So in the future, Michelle will carry the program. She's looking to do some exciting stuff, especially with the government also to merge it with some bigger competition so that you guys get a bigger stage to voice your ideas and your inventions. The closing ceremony for the next big inventor competition to place on Friday June 5th, 2020. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting. This is NTN Nightly, up next, Primus Hutchinson with the NTN Luffel of Weall. COVID-19 is a new pandemic disease as declared by the World Health Organization. It is transmitted directly by respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes or indirectly through rubbing the face with contaminated hands. There is still no specific treatment or vaccine against COVID-19 and as such, the farming community should adhere to some special recommendations. Limit the number of crew members to only essential persons. Practice frequent hand washing and cleaning of all boat surfaces. Limit contact with the public, keeping a safe distance between each person. Limit unnecessary conversation with customers and pairs during the sale of fish. Wash hands frequently with soap and running water or use 60 to 95% alcohol-based hand sanitizer until water and soap are available. Sneeze and cough in a flexed elbow or into a tissue immediately discarding the used tissue into a bin and wash hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer until soap and water is available and avoid close contact with persons having respiratory symptoms. More than ever before, your important role as gatekeepers of St. Lucia's nutritional health and food security should be taken seriously. When you exercise these precautions, you not only safeguard your health but also continue to allow all St. Lucia's access to freshly caught fish and other seafood. Remember, it is our responsibility to ensure our nation eats fresh, St. Lucia's best. Welcome back. We join Primer's Hutchinson for the NTN Nouvelle of Cuyol. ... Direct Executive for the U.N. King Hospital... Nancy Francis, Declareki... ... ... ... L'Hôpital pour traitement maladie étouffement COVID-19 n'est capacité de quatre vies sèches chambres. Constitue nationale pour transportation publique j'ai appris une décision pour réduire à sous les mots l'autopassage qu'il faut appuyer à sous le payage présentement. Selon Trustee Constitue-la Spencer-McThy, s'il y en aurait teni un vélo d'autopassage, à présent, il y aurait seulement sa servie 10. Ex-suffaire, j'accompagne le nécessitaire et il faut pour abattre le coût de maladie COVID-19 et qu'on m'aimera à la paix de la paix et qu'il faut que je coiffe. Because of the panic of the people who travel coiffe. Yes, yes. Ex-suffaire, je coiffe. Okay, okay. I coiffe. Ex-saccharity works quite well because in the country, 20 minibusker travel at the same level and you can do the fuel in it and you can do the prepassage. You can do the poison. So you coiffe on the necessity to coiffe on the quality of the cataract with the poison. Okay. I remember many of you pointed out that many of the problems we face daily are caused by the commuter. They can't do the bus, they can't do the fuel because it's minibusker, they can't do the service. They can't do the business. They can't do the other bus. They can't do the different places of business. You know what I mean, right? They can't do the business. So they can't do the play day that minibusker does the same business. They can't do the business. That's the only point in the service because we can't do the same thing. We can't do the life, the life. If you want to continue with the COVID-19 pandemic, service noses and the facilities that come in here can do the same thing. So you can inform the public that all the clinics, all the clinic doctors can do the same thing. So they can find the assistants and the facilities that come in here. And they need to do the appointment first. In order to strengthen the social distance, call the staff for the people to visit the wellness center to do the appointment. But the visitation is available every day from 8 a.m. to 3.5 a.m. So we advise people not to visit the wellness center every day if it's not a situation of support. But we also visit doctors every single day. Speaking of that, the clinic for the treatment started at Owen King Hospital on the 11th of 2020 by the appointment itself. All the clients who received the call to make the phone calls for the staff to come to the appointment to visit the Owen King Hospital to find the treatment. So, everyone who is watching to visit the wellness center you must take care of your health and respect all the patients who come to the clinic to do the appointment. You must find the best sanitis and the minister will continue to think about everyone and you must continue to do that to follow all the people who come to the clinic and do everything necessary for the minister to do everything himself to protect the patients from the corona virus. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you very much for your invitation. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments. Thank you very much, Chanel.