Students sent home after Haiti lecturer shows COVID-19 symptoms

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — Students, teachers as well as administrative staff at the Université Henri Christophe de Limonade have been sent home after a professor, who recently returned from a visit to the United States, exhibited symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The university’s management board asked the teachers, administrative staff and students to stay at home until Sunday as they await the results of the tests conducted on the lecturer.

Secretary of State for Communication Eddy Jackson Alexis confirmed that the professor had been placed in quarantine because he has symptoms which resembles those of the COVID-19. He said the professor had just returned from a visit to the US.

The health directorate of the department said the samples had been sent to the national laboratory and that the results should be available in approximately 24 hours.

Health authorities said that as of Wednesday, 47 people had been placed under quarantine at home, but that there has been no positive case of the virus.

Police to enforce Trinidad’s Loitering Law

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Police Commissioner Gary Griffith says law enforcement officials will be utilising the law regarding loitering over the coming weeks, in an attempt to keep people from assembling in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Griffith said the action is being done in line with the request of prime minister and chairman of the National Security Council, Dr Keith Rowley, to members of the public to act in a very responsible way as Trinidad and Tobago deals with the situation. Nine cases of the virus have so far been detected in the country.

On Wednesday, Rowley told a news conference that he was disappointed that some bar owners continued to open their establishments, allowing for the congregation of individuals through which the coronavirus could be easily spread.

Rowley said he was also disappointed that people were gathering at rivers despite the call for them not to do so.

Griffith said that while a large section of the population has adhered to the call by Prime Minister Rowley, there are a few who refuse to comply and which could affect the health and safety of the citizens. He hopes that there would be no need to enforce the laws relating to loitering.

Bahamas clamps down on fake news

NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) — The Bahamas Government has moved to clamp down on people involved in the dissemination of fake news saying it was creating harm, chaos, violence, and disorder as the country deals with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said under the “proclamation of emergency” issued by Governor-General Cornelius A Smith on Tuesday, “no person shall publish or cause to be published, posted or reposted over any media platform, inclusive of social media, any purported news or report or purported statement of fact, knowing or having reasonable cause to suspect the same is: Untrue or false; or may incite public fear, panic or ethnic hatred”.

Minnis said that there has been a problem in The Bahamas for some time “with the creation and spread of malicious fake news.

“We live in a free and open society where citizens have a right to express their opinions. A free press plays a vital role in protecting our freedoms,” he said, adding that his ruling Free National Movement Administration “freed the broadcast media from State control.

“Sadly, today, the malicious creation of misinformation for the purpose of creating harm, chaos, violence, and disorder is deeply worrisome. There are people who create such misinformation and disinformation for malicious reasons.”

Minnis said that the spread of “malicious fake news has the potential to cause violence, runs on financial institutions and/or critical food and medical supplies.

“Such fake news may cause widespread panic that prevents citizens from following directions designed to protect their lives during a crisis.”

The Bahamas is reporting at least two cases of the COVID-19.

PAHO urges Caribbean countries to immediately reorganise health services

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (CMC) — The director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr Carissa F Etienne, has called on all countries in the Americas, including the Caribbean, to take urgent action to reorganise their health services and protect health professionals in order to safely care for patients with the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and save lives.

“The message is clear — now is the time for countries to increase their capacity to detect cases, care for patients, and ensure that hospitals have the space, supplies and staff they need to provide the necessary care,” said Dr Etienne during her weekly teleconference with the region’s health ministers.

She urged them to involve citizens and other sectors in support of public health action.

“If everyone collaborates, it is not too late to contain the situation, flatten the epidemic curve and thereby avoid overloading the health services so that they can give the necessary care to all who need it,” Dr Etienne said.

PAHO said since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic on December 31, last year, until March 17, there were 191,127 cases and 7,807 deaths reported globally. The majority of these deaths are in China, Italy, Iran, Spain, and France.

PAHO said, as of Wednesday, in the region of the Americas, 37 countries and territories reported 5,944 cases and 19 deaths.