 Welcome to NTN Nightly. I am General Norville. This edition stops stories. The Ministry of Health has stepped up surveillance against COVID-19 variants found in the region. The Cabinet of Ministers declares a national day of prayer and fasting, and St. Lucia receives a donation of medical beds from Martinique. The Ministry of Health and Wellness says it continues to be guided by data on the management of COVID-19. National epidemiologist Dr. Michelle Faswa on Tuesday provided an update on St. Lucia's COVID-19 situation. Dr. Faswa indicated that a national COVID-19 analysis is conducted weekly with a view of making informed decisions. St. Lucia today has recorded 4,871 COVID-19 cases, with 414 of these cases recorded over the last 28 days. More from Jesse Laos. The daily infection rate per 100,000 in a population over the last 14 days decreased from 11 to 10.9. This decrease according to the national epidemiologist Dr. Michelle Faswa is insignificant when compared to the period April 21 to May 4, where the daily infection rate stood at 6.9 and is a cause for concern. In terms of community transmission, if we go by the Centers for Disease Control, what we notice is that we are now at a substantial transmission. In terms of the total new cases per 100,000, substantial transmission would be 50 to 99. So we are not moving in the current direction. We have been increasing cases and this is of concern, particularly with the new variants of concern that have been diagnosed. Our case, our average testing positivity for the last seven days is 8.8%. The World Health Organization recommends a positivity rate of under 5% for countries to determine whether they should adjust their national protocols in terms of strengthening or relaxing these protocols. And this should be at least 5% for 14 days. And we are currently at 8%, though we have gone down at least 1%, but it is significant and it is something that we need to pay particular attention to in terms of adhering to our protocols and our public health measures. Individuals affected by the virus range in ages 11 days to 103 years with an average age of 38 years. The age range from 25 to 49 is the most affected, accounting for 53% of the cases. 53% of all cases have been females, however accounting for 71% of COVID-19 related deaths are males as they often have poor health-seeking behavior. As it relates to the prevalence of cases as per health district, as at the 18th of May 2021, castries accounted for the highest number of cases. However, prevalence based on the population of the different regions showed that Babano had the highest incidence per 10,000 people, followed by Ansleray and Verne-Crosseley. The Ministry of Health has also noticed increased cases in the south of the island and health officials are actively working to reduce the numbers and curb the spread. Midway through May, we are noticing that we are almost at the number that we have in April. So this is particularly concerning. We are midway through the month of May and we have almost reached April numbers. So hence a call to the public to practice social distancing, to ensure mask wearing, wash hands and at least try our best to maintain these public health measures in order to reduce the number of cases that we are seeing in the country. The Ministry of Health and Wellness is urging members of the public to adhere to all COVID-19 protocols as the country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. For the Government Information Service, I am Jesse Leance reporting. Meanwhile, the Pan-American Health Organization PAHO has cautioned that there are several COVID-19 variants of concern in the region. Chief Medical Officer Dr Sharon Belmar-George says the Ministry of Health is keeping surveillance. Health officials the world over had forecasted that due to the nature of the coronavirus, a reduction in its impact on the world will be realized in two years' time. This would include a reduction in infection curves. However, Chief Medical Officer Dr Sharon Belmar-George explained that as with other viruses, the capacity for the coronavirus to mutate and change its characteristics existed. This is what is currently happening with the virus as new variants are introduced to the world almost daily. The CMO said that while some of these variants are of no consequence, others are concerning. The variants of concern we've been hearing about and every day there are new variants coming on. Some of them have less interest and some of them have greater impact on the population. So those which have greater impact will refer to them as a variance of concern. And there have been hundreds of variants of COVID-19 but the main ones which we speak about are those which are variants of concern. And the implications of those variants include an increase for transmissibility. That is for every one person who gets it, there's a greater likelihood of other persons getting it around them. The capacity for more severe diseases is also noted. And we also see a reduced capacity in terms of the drugs, the therapeutics that we use to treat persons with the disease may be less effective. There's also the implication on a reduced efficacy of the vaccines that have been produced for the various, the different variants that we note. And in some cases you may even get a reduced capacity to detect since the PCR testing is what is more effective in identifying the virus. So there are many implications based on the number of variants that we are seeing coming up. The variants of concern include the British variant known as B117, the South African variant known as B1351 and the Brazilian variant known as P1. The World Health Organization recently added the Indian variant. The CMO noted that while the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective against the British and Brazilian variants, its effectiveness against the South African variant has not been entertained and health officials are awaiting data to make this determination. Dr Sharon Belmar George stated that a number of countries including Martinique and the UK are battling a number of variants. The existence of these variants in neighboring islands and tourism source markets pose risks for a COVID-19 outbreak in St. Lucia if visitors do not add hair to hotel protocols and individuals from high-risk countries illegally enter St. Lucia and mingle within the communities. This is why the variants have now put a whole new twist on what was forecasted for COVID-19 and why for us as a country we need to ensure that we maintain a lot of the public health measures that have been advised because the impact on countries which are managing variants as we see in Trinidad, as we see closer to home in Martinique, the impact that it has on those populations. We will manage in one variant with our third wave in January and we saw the difference in terms of the number of cases and also the number of COVID-related deaths. St. Lucia thus far has reported the existence of one COVID-19 variant that is the British variant. From the Government Information Service, I am General Norvel. And the impact of COVID-19 on every aspect of the society is undeniable. This year the National Youth Awards has been scaled down. Ryan O'Brien has the details. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the institutional protocols, the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports has opted for community awards to recognize the contribution of the nation's youth towards the development of the island over the past year. Director of Youth, Mary Wilfred, said National Youth Awards, normally staged during Youth Month, was the biggest event staged during the month and hundreds of young people look forward to attending that event. Because we are unable to host the National Youth Awards this year, we have taken a new approach where we are hosting community youth awards in collaboration with district youth and sports councils where they come together and they now do the very same thing we would have done in the National Awards where we request nominations from individuals in the community to highlight the achievements, the accomplishments of young people within that community. Miss Wilfred noted that the councils did a very good job in ensuring that the young people in both youth and sports categories were given due recognition. She also observed that the community awards had even greater reach in recognizing the work of young people. The National Youth Awards can just give you the top, whereas the community youth awards would extend to greater riches that we may not have had during the National Youth Awards. So I really want to commend the presidents and their team on the youth and sports councils along with the youth workers who are working diligently to ensure that the community youth awards meets the required standards. So far, awards have been held in the communities of Choselle, Grosely North, Labry and Miko. From the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, I'm Ryan O'Brien. The government of St. Lucia is calling on all St. Lucians at home and abroad to come together in reflection and prayer and in that regard has declared Monday, May 24th, 2021 as a national day of prayer and fasting from 6am to 6pm. This day of national togetherness in spirit is expected to feature participation from all local faith-based organizations with church services, gospel performances, prayer, spoken word and testimonies and will be carried live via the national television network, partner stations and through live streaming. Taking into account social distancing protocols, this virtual platform will encourage full national participation. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Shasne explained that the decision for the National Day of Prayer and Fasting was taken by the Cabinet of Ministers following discussions with church leaders and after careful reflection on the past year and recognizing that we are in unprecedented times. All are invited to spend the day in reflection and virtual fellowship regardless of religious persuasion and to take some time for positive reflection, for meditation, to spread hope and comfort and build solidarity. This is Indian Nightly. Please stay with us. As a single mother, I do a lot of ironing. Knowing that the iron that I'm using is safe is important to me. The St. Lucia Bureau of Standards tests electrical appliances being imported into the country. SLBS will soon adopt 35 new standards on electrical equipment to ensure that consumers like you and me are safe. If your iron does not come with a British three-pin plug, it should be sold with a compliant British three-pin adapter. If you buy any appliance that is faulty, report it to the Bureau. This message is brought to you by the Commonwealth Standards Network. Welcome back. In observance of International Day of Families, Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Chastney recommitted to a more targeted approach in strengthening social protection on Ireland. He says there are major plans offered to improve assistance mechanisms for the vulnerable through local government. A registration system is being implemented to accurately determine who is in need of support with the basket of services including health insurance, school feeding programs, transportation, e-books and Wi-Fi offering for students in communities. This new registration system that we're going to have is going to be more accurate in determining people with needs. And that's insane to you. If you try to do that out of castries on a national basis, it's going to be complicated. So the goal is to strengthen local government so that the evaluation of these households can be done at a local level, which will be much easier to do and I think much more accurate. Parents are encouraged to become involved in sporting organizations to support the youth while the government proceeds to improve facilities and strengthen structures for sports development. We're looking to merge NLA, the National Watchery Association, in with the Gaming Authority so that the Gaming Authority would take on the aspects of the regulations and now create a new entity which would be the Youth and Sports Agency, which would now be targeted to use that money in the manner in which I just said to support the development of the arts and to support the development of sports. What we're doing right now with the sporting facilities and then now trying to create sport clubs throughout the length and breadth of this country and I always make reference to the aquatic sports facility, which is six or seven sporting clubs there, primary level and secondary level. We want to be able to replicate that where you have sporting clubs in each of the constituencies. Those sporting clubs provide sporting games, primary school level, secondary school level and at a senior level and in multiple disciplines. The big challenge here, Alyssa, is to get parents to understand their role in clubs. It's not for the kids who are playing the sports to be going around trying to raise money for all the different things they're doing and to run the sporting club themselves. We need to see a greater level of consistency and that's why we'll be encouraging parents to become active members of different sporting clubs. If you played sports for VSADC and you now have passed the age of playing, volunteer your time back into the association to help build up that association. What the government is intending to do is to make sure the money that we're getting from the NLA, that those monies now go in to help support programs so that we know the time for the coaches, the uniforms, time for the lights, equipment would all be accessed through this fund. International Day of Families was observed May 15. Saint Lucia has received a donation of medical beds from Martinique, Harris-Homer de Mark. The E-Club Caribe Association recently donated 40 medical beds to Saint Lucia. The donation was received by the Consul General Joanna Sultan on behalf of the Consulate of Saint Lucia in Martinique. Once on Island, the beds will be presented to the Ministry of Health in Saint Lucia. This is the second largest shipment of medical beds to Saint Lucia from the Consulate in Martinique. So we had to load the beds, 40 medical beds, which were given down to the Ministry of Health in Saint Lucia. These beds are from the association E-Club Caribe and I have to admit that E-Club Caribe, they've been very, very supportive. They've helped us with ecograph machines, most recently with a wheelchair, and now these go to medical beds. I have to admit they've been partners with us for the last two years and I have to definitely say a big thank you to the President and the rest of his members. So these beds are being loaded right now and they'll be going down to Saint Lucia and this of course is a gift to the government and the people of Saint Lucia from the E-Club Caribe Association. The E-Club Caribe Association is a service club which was formed in 2017. And whose humanitarian actions are largely cared towards Caribbean cooperation. The association has been working closely with the Consulate on several of their projects. This is the fourth donation that the association has made to Saint Lucia. From the Government Information Service, I'm Hermadi Mark reporting. That brings us to the end of NTN Nightly. Join us next time at 7pm with a repeat at 7pm. You can also catch up with us anytime on the Saint Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am General Norvel.