 Welcome to NTIA Nightly. I am Gen. Norvel. This edition, Stop Stories. Thousands of learning devices to be distributed to students across the island. The Government of St. Lucia institutes new measures to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19. And the Government of Taiwan is facilitating Mandarin language training for public servants. The Government of St. Lucia continues to make strides towards providing the nation's children with a world-class education. Thousands of learning devices have already been distributed to aid students as they continue their schooling via an online multi-medium platform. As students revert to the virtual classroom setting, thousands more are to be distributed. Details in this report. The Government of St. Lucia continues to stead a course to achieving a globally competitive education, as 5,000 e-books and Mi5 devices were officially handed over to the Ministry of Education. The devices, which are equipped with learning tools and content aligned with upper and lower school curriculum, were procured and donated by the Joint Efforts of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, NTRC, through the Universal Service Fund, USF, and the Office of the Prime Minister. At the handing over ceremony on Wednesday 3 February 2021, Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shaste said that these devices serve as a major thrust to bridging the digital divide and holistically improving the education system. We've had a vision and a passion to make sure that we can equip our young persons to be competitive on a global basis. Smart St. Lucia is a major objective of this government. And what is it? It's laying down the infrastructure to facilitate us interacting on a competitive basis globally. We've understood because of climate change that we have to embed resilience in everything that we do. The new roads with proper drains and proper sidewalks. The new schools with backup generators and water storage tank facilities. The new healthcare centers that are also equipped with backup generators and refrigerators. So in case you are cut off in a community that we can store medicine, this is the foresight of building a smart country. The eBooks will add value to the learning experiences of students as the devices are equipped with content for 16 CSEC subjects. Exciting interactive learning tools and platforms which will ensure that students have equitable access to content for teachers. It will allow them to engage in differentiated instruction and assessment for different groups of students. Also bring in ease to grading and data collection. It will allow them to conduct labs repeatedly without exhausting resources. Parents also benefit as less textbooks will have to be purchased in the long run. Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, Honorable Dr. Gail Rigabet echoed the sentiments of the Prime Minister and expressed that upon assuming office, the hashtag Educate St. Lucia Initiative was conceptualized and had ICT integration in the education system as one of the main pillars of action. Another component was what we did, digital competency. And by that we mean ensuring that there is sufficient training for teachers and students to allow for them to better leverage the technology, not only the hardware but also software and other learning platforms that can enhance the learning and teaching experience. It is that comprehensive integration of ICT in education or e-education that has informed and undergirded the policy thrust of the ministry. The Learnbook devices were supplied by Fortuna Picks Inc. and the MiFi devices by Digital Limited St. Lucia. The Ministry of Education is responsible for the distribution and will commence this week with Form 4s, with the Form 3s and Form 2s to receive shortly after. Partnerships with international agencies will result in the donation of tablets to primary school students in the coming weeks. Reporting for the Office of the Prime Minister, I am Danielle Dubois. Following a meeting of the National Emergency Management Advisory Committee, NIMAC and private sector organizations, the government of St. Lucia on Tuesday announced that a state of emergency is in effect for St. Lucia as of Wednesday 3rd February 2021. This as St. Lucia continues to record increasing cases of the coronavirus amid its third wave of COVID-19. Prime Minister St. Lucia, the Honourable Alan Chastney on Tuesday highlighted new protocols to take effect in an effort to safeguard the health and well-being of the public and to reduce the spread of the virus. Our country will go back to a state of emergency effective Wednesday 3rd February 2021 for an initial period of 7 days. This will allow us to further restrict movement with a curfew from 7pm to 5am effective Wednesday 3rd February. The COVID-19 Act is being amended to reduce operation hours for businesses operations to coincide with this curfew. Visitors to St. Lucia will now require a PCR test within 5 days of arrival rather than the 7 days. Supermarkets will remain open. Let me state again, supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open. So there's no need to panic by. Essential services will also be allowed to operate. The full list will be published in the revised statutory instrument on www.covid19response.lc. The Government of St. Lucia on January 22, 2021 had instituted new measures in an effort to help curtail the spread of the virus. This included the scaling down of activities and business operations. The Prime Minister noted that as the country experiences a third wave, the strain on the health system is evident. He explained that the government from the onset had instituted several measures to combat the virus and its impact. In preparation for the pandemic, we fully operationalized OKEU Hospital and converted the VH into a respiratory hospital, specific for COVID. We purchased equipment to create capacity for our in-country testing, reached out to the Cuban government and recruited 113 Cuban medical professionals. We set up COVID-19 quarantine facilities initially at no cost to the returning nationals. In the early stages of COVID, we mobilized and delivered over 10,000 food and care packages to the most vulnerable. And we launched a feeding program to get thousands of hot meals to the elderly and differently abled. This provided a much needed market to our farmers. By April 2020, we launched our social stabilization plan to help the persons who have completely lost their income and the more vulnerable persons in our society. Income support was provided through the National Insurance Corporation to the tune of over 70 million, while non-NIC contributors received almost 8 million in payouts. Leader of the opposition, Hon. Philip J. Pierre has thrown his support behind the government of St. Lucia, calling for all St. Lucia's to add hair to the protocols. I must tell you that our party has always been in favor of following the professional and scientific advice as it relates to the handling of the COVID crisis. We've always said that we have to be driven by the science and the professional advice. In this regard, we have supported the government in the protocols that have been verified by science and professionals. Leader of the opposition, Hon. Philip J. Pierre. As part of the implementation of new COVID-19 measures, the Prime Minister explained that the decision to keep schools closed was taken to ensure the safety of all students, teachers and auxiliary staff. Students will continue utilizing the online multimedia platform to access classes. The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations is making special provisions for students who will be writing the CXC and the Common Entrance examinations so as to allow them access to both virtual and physical classrooms in a safe setting. Hon. Dr. Gayle Rigabet is the Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development. Our promise to ensure minimum disruption to the educational experience of our children is one that is shared by many of our partners and stakeholders. We have received letters of concern from school boards, parents, other organizations. We have engaged interested parties and the sentiment is that given the recent information shared by the Ministry of Health and what appears to be community spread, it would be best to suspend face-to-face teaching at this time. The administrative and legal process will take a day or so and therefore the effective date is Thursday, February 4th, 2021. The Minister for Education reaffirming the Government's commitment to ensuring the safety of all within the sector while providing students with a world-class education expressed gratitude to all stakeholders for their support. We are so grateful to all who have worked tirelessly to cater to the needs of our teachers, students and we are grateful to our ancillary staff who are our frontliners in this fight against COVID-19 as well. We have listened. We care for the safety of our students, teachers and other workers in the sector. We will therefore revert to online learning. Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, Honourable Dr. Gail Brigabert. This is NTN Nightly. When we come back, the Government of Taiwan is facilitating Mandarin language training for public servants. 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 and Wellness on Tuesday 2nd February 2021 confirmed 68 new cases of COVID-19. These results were derived from the testing done on Sunday January 31, 2021 and on Monday February 1, 2021 where 38 positives and 30 positives were recorded respectively. This is from a total of 900 COVID-19 samples processed by the Israel Long Laboratory of which 832 were negative. The sample period ranges from January 22 to January 31, 2021. Dr. Sharon Belmar-George is the Chief Medical Officer. All of the cases are St. Lucia Nationals who range in age from 7 to 75 years and are from Grosjele castries, Miku, Babano, Anslery, Viewfort and the Denver Districts. They were tested at various points of care and placed in quarantine by health practitioners while awaiting their COVID-19 test results. Arrangements are now being mailed for the placement of these individuals into isolation. On Monday February 1, 2021, the Ministry of Health and Wellness received confirmation of its 16th COVID-19 related death. The individual is a 61-year-old male from the castries district with multiple underlying illnesses. He had presented to a healthcare facility where he was tested for COVID-19. On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, he was admitted at the respiratory hospital and passed away on February 1, 2021. The Ministry of Health extends sympathy to the family and loved ones of this individual. As at 6pm on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, the Ministry of Health and Wellness reported a total of 1,479 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in country. 757 of these are active cases and 706 of these cases have recovered. Two cases remain in critical care and the others in hospital and home-based care are all stable. Shifting gears, the Government of the Republic of China Taiwan is facilitating Mandarin language training for over 200 public officers. Moindesh report from Jolita Peter. Mandarin is the official language of the Republic of China Taiwan, making it the most dominant language in education, business and media. An overwhelming 200-plus public servants have applied through the Department of the Public Service Training Division to participate in the online program which commences on February 8, 2021. Mandarin instructor Miss Ting Ting Lu, who is in St. Lucia, will be conducting the Mandarin training on behalf of the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund. She said the course comprises three modules and will be taught at the basic and advanced levels. Also besides the Mandarin language, of course they will improve in the end. I would also like to do some cultural exchange because Taiwan is in Asia and is far away from the Caribbean area. So I will introduce some culture of Taiwan, the festival or the lifestyles in Taiwan. So I want to help the learners understand more, get a better understanding of Taiwan. Over the years, a number of St. Lucia students have benefited from free education in Taiwan. Ambassador of the Republic of China Taiwan to St. Lucia, His Excellency Peter Chai Yanshan, says his government is pleased to offer assistance to the government of St. Lucia in the area of capacity building. In terms of Mandarin, I think Taiwan and St. Lucia are longtime friends and also constructive partners. We established a lot of projects that are really good for the benefit of all solutions and in nine ways the national development of St. Lucia government. And besides that, we want to enhance mutual understanding between our two peoples. And for that, most important is to know each other's culture, each other's philosophy. Permanent Secretary in the Department of the Public Service, Miss Peggy An-Soudat, has expressed gratitude to the government of the Republic of China Taiwan for making the delivery of the online Mandarin program possible. St. Lucia's over many years have visited Taiwan for meetings, training and cultural exchanges. Learning Mandarin will not only strengthen social and cultural exchanges, but will also help break language barriers. We have seen an overwhelming interest evident in the over 200 applications received thus far. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all participants well. Every year, the government of the Republic of China Taiwan hosts a cultural exchange workshop in Taiwan for public officers. However, the program had to be suspended last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From the communications unit of the Department of the Public Service, Julie Tepita reporting. Graduate recruitment in the labour market is being redefined during the pandemic. Employers are adapting to new processes associated with the COVID-19 response, and it is expected that specific competencies when hiring new talent will be sought after by organisations in this first. Delivering welcome remarks at the Sa'afa-Lewis Community College's virtual graduation ceremony, Minister for Education, Innovation, Generations and Sustainable Development, Honourable Dr. Gail Rigabet, explained to the cohort that successfully completing their studies despite the pandemic may very well work to their advantage as they join the world of work. It is that experience above all that in time, in time, well beyond the certificate that you received today that will prove your technical competency. It will be that experience of the lockdown and remain in productive and focused that will prove that you are made of something special. In time, employers may very well find themselves asking the question through the interview process. Were you in school during that period, 2020 to 2021, already knowing and embracing exactly what I'm saying now, which is that special crop of students. They would have had to prove their metal. The Education Minister credits the graduates for spurring urgent change in the sector under pandemic conditions, adding that their resilience is a foundation left behind for upcoming scholars. You are that crop of students who forced us to accelerate a very detailed plan for the integration of ICTs in education. You were the energy behind a more rapid implementation of that program. You were the ones, regrettably, were caught flat-footed. Some of you not having yet mastered the various learning platforms, but you are also the ones who, when we made the training available, availed yourselves of the opportunity and proved your excellence again. The road ahead, thanks to COVID-19, is largely unpredictable. But I want to reassure you that your experience here, especially the experience the last 10 months in particular, these experiences have more than prepared you. You are adequately equipped to master any challenge thrown at you. You are well-outfitted to respond to and to resolve the many issues that crop up in one's life. The South of Lewis Community College's class of 2020 will honour in the virtual graduation ceremony on Sunday, January 31. The Ministry of Health and Wellness informs the public of the closure of the Environmental Health Division Water Watch office effective Wednesday, February 3 to Thursday, February 4, 2021 to facilitate deep cleaning of its office premises. This is necessary to address outstanding air quality issues with a view of providing a safe environment for employees and clients alike. The Ministry of Health apologises for any inconvenience caused. All matters requiring the urgent attention of the Environmental Health Division may be communicated via email at environmental.health.govt.lc That brings us to the end of NTN Nightly. Join us next time at 7pm with a repeat at 7am. You can also catch up with us anytime on the St. Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am General Norvel.