 Welcome to NTN Nightly, I am Anisia Antoine. This edition's top stories. Schools are being outfitted to combat COVID-19 as the new academic year opens. The Ministry of Education implements regulations for early childhood centres. And the Department of Culture and Creative Industries installs its newest Goodwill Ambassador. Schools, island-wide, are undergoing rehabilitation works that are not only routine maintenance but retrofitting for COVID-19. The Ministry of Education says despite a reduction in the budget for infrastructural upgrades, all schools are being attended to. Lisa Joseph reports. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically reduced government revenues, affecting budgets for all departments and agencies. Consequently, the Ministry of Education has not received the whopping $10 million that it did for the 2019-2020 academic year. However, officials say the physical needs of the 73 primary schools and 26 secondary schools in Ireland have not been ignored. Michelle Charles is the Permanent Secretary. And some of these areas include mainly our plumbing and sanitation factors. So a lot of emphasis was placed on ensuring that our plumbing and our washroom facilities are in good condition to allow our students to return to school. There has been a greater demand for hand washing stations and you can very well understand why. And the focus has been placed on that. At the moment, our school rehabilitation program is about 60% complete with most of our projects being implemented. A few of them may be delayed, due to some circumstances outside of the control of the Ministry of Education. However, we can guarantee that most of our works are going to be completed before the reopening of school. The Permanent Secretary says the Ministry will be communicating with the principals of schools that will experience delays in the rehabilitation works with an indication of completion dates. Chief Education Officer Dr. Fiona Phillip-Mayer says the rehabilitation works that include the installation of additional hand washing stations and sanitizing dispensers form a critical part of the Ministry's guidelines for the safety opening of schools. Dr. Mayer is encouraging parents to help the children with the personal hygiene practices and protocols that will protect them from COVID-19. As part of the guidelines of the reopening of school, there is an entire document that has been prepared based on the WHO in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer that speaks to the reopening of school within a safe environment. So issues of personal hygiene, issues of wearing masks, all of those are handled in there. And we encourage our parents to work with us in terms of continuing those practices at home. But similarly, working out, you know, things like wearing of the mask, short periods at home so the children get accustomed to it, rather than coming to school on the first day and being confronted with it. The Ministry of Education has in stock face masks, face shields and hand sanitizers which will be distributed to schools to assist with the adherence to the COVID-19 protocols. From the Government Information Service, Lisa Joseph reports in. Meantime, several early childhood development centres on Ireland have been approved for reopening in September. Jesse Leos reports on the process and requirements for these institutions in wake of COVID-19. The World Health Organization advises that children aged five years and under should not be required to wear masks. This is based on the safety and overall interest of the child and the capacity to appropriately use a mask with minimal assistance. However, as early childhood centres in St. Lucia prepare to resume operations from September in wake of the pandemic, Chief Medical Officer Dr Sharon Belmar George emphasises on a particular mandate. What is extremely important at that stage is that any child who develops respiratory signs and symptoms not be taken into a service where there are other children there. And this needs to be enforced at the maximum. Such children, she says, should be taken to the nearest respiratory clinic for care. This is one of the terms and conditions laid out for early childhood centres looking to reopen. Similar to primary and secondary schools, early childhood centres island-wide have submitted their COVID-19 conscious instructional plans to the Department of Education. In collaboration with the St. Lucia Bureau of Standards, the Department's Early Childhood Education Unit has been reviewing each plan before submitting them to the Environmental Health Department for approval. So they're looking for particular benchmarks by which they're going to then say that centre is approved for reopening. And so the Environmental Health team then liaised with the Early Childhood Centre and we have gotten approval for some of the centres. There have been others where particular things need to be done, cleaning of particular surfaces and all of that. Markings in place, sanitisation of areas, they've gone to give them feedback. So that process is ongoing and even as late as Friday, there was a discussion with the head of that team to get the process going in a quite steady manner to make sure that as many centres as possible that meet those benchmarks are then reopened as of next week. That was Dr Fiona Philip Meyer, Chief Education Officer. She went on to list some of the expectations of early childhood centres going forward. The level of teacher-student ratio, how many children do you have in a centre? We know that we've had centres with 30 little ones to one individual. That is not something that we can continue to have. The social distancing markers, information for parents, the basic little posters and we're not speaking about going out there and printing all kinds of fancy posters but handwritten posters that speak to washing of hands, covering of the mouth. All adults must wear a mask while on the compound of any early childhood development centre. For the Government Information Service, I am Jesse Leance reporting. St Lucia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in ensuring a safe and strategic approach to the reopening of the economy has resulted in the United States Centre for Disease Control, CDC, reviewing its recent travel advisory on St Lucia. Here's Rajbara Lawrence. The Centre for Disease Control, the CDC, has reduced St Lucia's COVID-19 rating to the lowest, level one, as of only eight countries globally. For the period of July to August 2020 to date, St Lucia has welcomed 5,897 travellers through the approved ports of entry, of which 4,413 are visitors. Strictly enforced protocols have been put in place to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which include pre-testing within seven days of arrival in the destination, mandatory screening on arrival, use of certified taxis and hotels, a 14-day quarantine period for non-bubble countries, the wearing of masks in public and observing physical distancing. Chief Medical Officer Dr Sharon Belmar George noted that these measures have been effective in keeping the spread of the virus at bay. Dr Belmar George also explained the criteria used by the CDC to determine the status of a country. They use the level of disease burden of COVID-19 within the country, and they also look at the, this is the primary criteria that they use. How much of COVID-19 you have within your country? They also look at your healthcare capacity and your public health infrastructure. So when we, and it's one of the analysis that we also do within the Ministry of Health, so what they look at is the number of new cases within 28 days. They use two incubation periods for COVID-19. They also look at the trajectory in terms of the increases and the decreases, and they also look at the incidence of COVID-19. So for St Lucia, for example, usually for you to fall into a level three, you would have to have more than 10 cases within the last 28 days. So St Lucia, we had, I think we had about three within the 28 days. And also our number of cases was also on the decrease. So clearly we fit into a level one. The Chief Medical Officer also praised the endorsement by a Caribbean Analytics Consultancy Forum as it encourages visitors to come to St Lucia. We were quite pleased to see from an international point of view the ratings of all of the islands when they looked at our incidence of disease per 100,000. And St Lucia really had the lowest number. So we were quite pleased for that comparison and it was good that it was coming from an international agency as well. The public is reminded to follow all travel and on-island protocols as a continued measure in mitigating the risk of COVID-19 into local communities. Residents too are reminded to be vigilant and report any known infringements to the 311 hotline or the nearest police station. To access St Lucia's COVID-19 management protocol and for pre-filling of the mandatory travel registration form, please visit www.stlucia.org forward slash COVID-19. From the Government Information Service, Rojvaro Lawrence reporting. The Department of Culture and Creative Industries has welcomed its newest Goodwill Ambassador. Lisa Joseph reports. The Goodwill Ambassador's program serves as a catalyst for the socio-economic transformation and the development of St Lucia's human capital in all sectors related to the creative arts and the industries that they support, namely sports, visual arts, gastronomy and music. The role of a Goodwill Ambassador, among other things, is to leverage their profile as a celebrity to access opportunities for the growth and development of aspiring senior citizens in various fields of endeavor. Minister with Responsibility for Culture and Creative Industries, Senator Honorable Fortuna Beros, says this is something Claudia Edward Ladner has been doing for years. The artist created the Edward for Education Charity Foundation, working in schools on the island to create a better teaching and learning environment for the students and teachers. She has to date built a sick bay at the Corinth Secondary School, a learning resource center at the Arvimeria Girls Primary School, brought in a Shakespeare professional to conduct workshops on the island and has recently completed a theater arts room for the Cicero Secondary School. We are indeed proud of you. We are even more elated that you have agreed to identify with this program, the Goodwill Ambassador's program, and we are happy that you continue to be a model that our nation can point to as we continue to build our new St Lucia. We value your experience and your journey and we look forward to working with you to assist in us in developing that network of support, of authentic solutions or solution-brewed success that we can use to inspire our people. We thank you for accepting our invitation to serve as this is an opportunity for you to continue to give off your best. For Claudia Edward Ladner, the work accomplished under the Edward for Education Foundation has only just begun. She recalls when it all started. One day my nephew came in and he says, Auntie, my classroom is so hot I cannot focus. He said those words and I said, Maybe we should speak to the teachers and tell the parents let's all contribute some fans to the classroom. And then that evening I said, I should do something more. And the morning Sharon Williams called me and she said, Claudia, you should do a charity foundation. I was like, Sharon, we're thinking the same thing. And that's where it all developed. And I started, I went to the Ministry of Education to talk to them about it. And they said, Yeah, go ahead. We will stand behind you 100 percent. And from then on we just went on with it. The Department of Culture and Creative Industry says Claudia over the last 20 years as a singer-songwriter has represented the island well, opening new markets for local entertainers. She's most popular of the Asian continents, especially where she does annual jazz and blues circuits in Thailand. The artist has been performing on a three to seven month contract in Asia for the past six years, where her popularity has also gained her and her band many invitations to the continent to perform her energetic style of jazz and blues music. Claudia and her band, Naked Cords, have performed numerous times at the Senoshi Jazz Festivals, within the Caribbean, USA, and recently performed on the main stage of the Burton and Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival in the UK. Performance reviews are nothing short of amazing every time. Claudia Edward Ladner, as with the other Goodwill Ambassadors, now has the title of Your Excellency for the term of the Ambassadorship. During the Investiture Ceremony on Friday 21st August, she was granted the award of the Senusha Medal of Merit Gold. She will also be issued with an official or diplomatic passport as awarded by the Cabinet of Ministers. She will serve for a period of three years. From the Government Information Service, Lisa Joseph reporting. The Caribbean Youth Film Festival this year celebrates its eighth anniversary. Having employed as its mechanism a strategic module of teaching the film and television art form to youth, one of the festival's main objectives is the building of uniquely holistic and productive citizens. Festival director Colin Weeks stated that participation has grown from local to original with an abundance of interest being shown from the youth of the Eastern Caribbean and beyond. Weeks also explained that the shift of dynamics due to the COVID-19 pandemic allowed for an international pool of professors as well as participants. Because one of the first things that we had to do was to do the usual workshops online. However, this allowed us to have more capacity to bring in people outside of the Caribbean and more professional filmmakers into the fray. So we got persons from Ireland alike of Carl Schoolfield who is an Oxford professor who did a couple of webinars. We also had Leslie Ann Creighton from Trinidad from FilmTT who is actually the managing director from FilmTT. We had a cohort of OECS filmmakers from Antigua, Guadalupe, Dominica and the discussions over the six weeks that we did those webinars were very informative, very insightful, very educating. And so we knew that we are on the right path in terms of what we were able to produce with this year's festival. It allowed persons from all over the world to join us. This year, the Caribbean Film Festival competition is being held under the theme COVID Diaries, giving young people the opportunity to express themselves and portray their experiences through film. We know it is not just an economical crisis that we have, but it's a big social crisis and we see it throughout the day, throughout the weeks that have passed, throughout the months that have passed. That how it could affect you psychologically. So it is an avenue where young people could express themselves and get that emotional stress out if you want to put it that way. So we're hoping that they would go out and do interviews, tell their stories of what COVID did to them or meant to them. In an effort to support the youth and develop the film industry, Export St. Lucia has also partnered with the Caribbean Film Festival for the film competition. In an effort to support the youth and develop the film industry, Export St. Lucia has also partnered with the Caribbean Film Festival for the film competition. Heidi Constantine Felix is the Client Manager of Marketing and Promotions at Export St. Lucia. This festival is all about raising awareness of the film festival and raising the standard of the film festival. And for us at Export St. Lucia, these are big goals of our national export strategy, especially raising awareness of our sectors that export. So as we launch this competition, the COVID Diaries, we just want to encourage St. Lucia's to pay attention to what's happening in our film sector and the high quality film companies that we have in the works of dub productions, Malfini Film and Animation Studio, Ionola Pictures, we have Divina Lee, Matthew Emmanuel, we have so many companies that have taken our films beyond our shores. And let's really support them at this time and support the next generation that's interested in this sector as well. The COVID Diaries film competition was launched on Monday, August 24th at the Export St. Lucia headquarters. This is Antion Knightley. Up next, Primus Hutchinson with the Antion novella quay all. 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. We join Primus Hutchinson for the Antion novella quay all. Mr. Hota, Anissier, Mr. Madam Department of Health and Welfare for Information, the government is the GIS, a national television company NTN, and the new president for quay all, President Primus Hutchinson. After the Ministry of Education was given the command to approve the government cabinet, the decision I made for the school to live in operation began in September of this year. Today, we have a great discussion with NTN, medical chief, Dr. Sharon Belma George, chief of education, Dr. Fiona Meyer, ex-secretary of the Ministry of Education, Michelle Charles, and Cedarsum to explain the development of this new room, and also to answer questions from the public. Let's take into consideration the situation of the corona, which is now a part of the process. The decision I made to open the school on September 7, during the institute, the school's title, was presented to the school on the 31st of May. The medical chief explained all the things I did to make it easier for the students to live in the school, without having to affect me. Dr. Sharon Belma George said that the Ministry of Health, a collaboration with the Ministry of Education, I established the school to make sure that all students are well protected. Dr. Belma George also said that the research I did was not easy for children to be easily affected, especially for the children. So, at the end of the day, the school is also well protected, and I called the parents to give good support to the children. The medical chief said that I called the parents to follow a good example of the issue, to obey all the rules that are in place, and to encourage the children to do the same, so that they can enter the school on September 7. The school started the operation on September 7. It was made up of two options. One is for the school to have a normal pill, for example, it's cut for 111 check, and it can be cut for up to four times a day, and four times a day for cleaning, and for the teachers to plan for the next week. And for the school that has 600, the school has launched four days a day, it's called the day, you can assist the school on the day, you can stay on the day, you can live on the day, I would like to go to the share of Dr Fionnamayo explain to the viewers how to work. For a pleasure and power, I would like to say that we must do our best to provide food for the children, we must make sure that the schools are protected. We can help the children, If they don't come to the school, we can not give them food because they need food. So for example, Stanley John Odlam Secondary School. Yes, Mariko Secondary. So we have a little school because it's my life. But we have a little school because I'm from Guwande. But we have all these little schools with a little school with we said, you can come to school Monday, Monday, Thursday, Thursday. Friday, Monday, Thursday, because we can come to school Monday because it's Thursday, we can come to school Monday. But Monday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday. We have a little school with a teacher who serves as a planner to put everything in place, on Friday. Dr. Maie explained to us, For the school that is near to the school, the situation is different, as I said earlier. For the school that is near to the school, you have to skip a day to attend the school. Dr. Maya Ajudeki, I have the option to attend the first school and the second school. This is a small school. This is the school that is the widest. We have six mothers, six sisters. We have nine mothers in the school. So this is not the school that is the first with the second? This is not the school that is the first with the second. So, we have to dance the school so that we can keep a lot of money for the children. So we have to keep alternate days. So that means that we can come here, come here, come here, come here. So, we have to watch all the time that this school is. People like us, we can shift because we don't have to shift. So what they call me is to let me go as a teacher. Who do you want to be with me? Because you are taking part in this, you are in transportation. Because there is a school feeding problem. And because the teachers are there, I don't know. So, under that situation, shift, no pa-ca-fe, peace, shift under peace, le-call. Nuni, alternate days, so that means, yonji ma mera ka-vini, yonji yo pa-ka-vini, yonji yo ka-vini, yonji yo pa-ka-vini. Mese jua yo pa-ka-vini le-call, lani toa va'i ki ka'i, pu'e pa'i wa'i ba'i si ma ma'i sa-la, pu'e se'e pu'i ki te'yo, tuji yo ka-fe, toa va'i yo, m'em si yo pa le-call. So pa'u ansav, pi'es tan pa-chang'e, ta'an si ma ma'i la ka-vini le-call, li'bomate, si se'e te'i ri'i te'yo ka-vini le-call, se'i me'n ba'i ga'i nu pa'a'i chang'e sa, u sa'vi yo ka'i ki te'i de zedimi, u sa'vi yishu le-call, e'i pu'u sa'i gade, pu'u lot jua'i pa le-call, u ka'i usi sa'v. Se'i go'an cheff'la ka'i ka-fe le pa'an, sa'v ki, to'e arrange ma'i ja'n plas, usi anka yo'i ti diya to mi ma lad, ka'i ma ja'i ri'i te'i le-call, pe'i ya'n prue yo'i well ne' sent'e. An se'et le si'i pu'u le presa'an, an total di se'k 1138 test ja'a to'v'i kudri, pu' ma lad di corona, ek an yo 26 ja'a to'v'i koflimi, de ma lad di sala'a. An se'i 26 la, 25 ja'a to'v'i jirizon, deni ka'a ki o'u registri, ma dili 18 2020, se'i an se'et le si'i ki te'i witunne, ki te'i ka'a usu ve'i assistas, al-Ovital Victoria, an kudri si'on ki te'i stab. Nos ki'i employe, e'i pi'i etabli se'i ma govedma pu' quarantine, de kov'e yo'o madame, se'et lisi'i, ka'o'i witunne de l'age, ki te'i ped la konesas, pa'dan ite'i an quarantine, sa'a te'i va du di, li'i vent'o'a amad a'u. Yo'o wit ma'o pote'i al-Ovital abo ambulance, ek pweset ma'a, i an ICU al-Ovital Owen King, ka'u usu ve'i assistas medical, ga'i medical appweset ma'a, ka'a kudri investigasio pu'i determinei kodisi'i ek pwesa amad a'u madame salar, di va'u masat'i, ka'i pwesat'i, ka'i pwesat'i, pi'i e'i formasio, ek fa'a so'i de repos di maladi corona, kosanei ka'a salar. Ek se'i kosanei, se'i madame no'o pote'u al-Ovital la, mo'o ka'i messio'u ota'i pw'o ka'a gadei, mo'o ka'i o'u invitasio, kosanei ka'u usu ve'i amad a'u madame salar, di va'u masat'i, ka'i pwesat'i, ka'i pwesat'u ota'i, a'u madame salar.