Covid 19 testing facility now open at Princess Juliana Airport The Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA), Richard Panneflek hereby informs the public that PJIAE in cooperation with Healthcare Laboratory (HCLS), has opened a COVID-19 testing facility at Princess Juliana Airport.
Passengers who are traveling to US territory, both tourists and residents can make use of this facility from 11am until 4 pm daily.
This service will offer quick and easy antigen rapid testing for $110. The Minister of VSA Richard Panneflek was invited Source: soualiganewsday
CURACAO: 21-YEAR-OLD SHOT DEAD A 21-year-old man was shot dead on the night of the election. Around 10 p.m. the police received reports of shots in the vicinity of Batavierswijk. On the spot, they saw a man fleeing into an alley and found the 21-year-old with several gunshot wounds. The rushed emergency services could no longer mean anything to him. The body has been confiscated for further investigation.
On Friday Gilmar ‘Pik’ Pisas’ party managed to win 9 of the 21 seats. Knops has been in contact with Pisas, in which he has indicated that he expects a continuation of the good cooperation between Curaçao and the Netherlands. According to the State Secretary, this was also good in recent years. PAR and PNP managed to win four seats last Friday. MAN has to settle for two and newcomers KEM and TPK both won one seat.
Worrying Answers From CDC Director on Conditional Sailing Order The CDC Director answers questions during a Senate Committee hearing that included questions regarding the Conditional Sailing Order and resuming cruises. Mar 21, 2021 There are some very worrying signs coming from the CDC Director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, after answering questions from an Alaska senator. It now seems it’s not entirely up to the CDC on resuming cruise operations, and they are still working towards phase two of a four-phased plan of return.
There is no doubt that health and safety come first. Still, mixed messages are coming from the CDC regarding resuming cruises during a recent Senate Committee hearing between the CDC director and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski.
Resuming Cruises is Not the CDC’s Decision
Resuming cruises in the United States has just become even more worrying and confusing after a recent Senate HELP Committee hearing entitled “Examining Our COVID-19 Response: An Update from Federal Officials” held on March 18, 2021.
It has come across since the pandemic started and cruise lines started suspending operations that it was very much in the CDC’s hands-on when cruises could safely resume.
It seems we’re all wrong after some worrying answers given by the Director of the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
The U.S. Senator for Alaska asked a fundamental question as the state has suffered due to the Conditional Sailing Order and no cruise ship visits for over a year. Senator Murkowski asked:
“Can you give me any kind of guidance to give Alaskans in terms of what we might be able to expect with where this guidance is in the process?
When you say later, does that mean at the end of 2021, does it mean in three months, does it mean in one month? what kind of guidance can you provide when it comes to the CDC’s order as it relates to the Conditional Order?”
The basis of the question is to provide more of a timeline to Alaskans and those impacted by no cruise ship calls. Those businesses could be facing a second season of no cruise visitors, and the senator was trying to get some more set timeline details on the Conditional Sailings Order. Something which cruise lines and ports has become very frustrated with.
The CDC Director responded with the following the answer:
“We have provided technical assistance on the Conditional Sail where we’ve provided a four-phased strategy for how we could get sail open. We’re in phase 1 of that, moving towards phase 2.”
“This is an inter-agency decision, it is not a decision solely up to the CDC so I would be remiss if I would do that by myself because the decision is not solely up to us.”
The senator then quickly asked if she could provide some timeline on moving to that second phase and the CDC Director answered:
“I can’t simply because I don’t believe it solely in our jurisdiction to address, it’s not necessary the CDC.”
The senator then asked:
“Who else is in the decision-making process beyond CDC?”
The CDC Director then finally said:
“I believe the department of transportation and there are numerous others making these decisions”
The back and forth between the two related to cruises ended with the senator saying she’ll be able to follow up later and that she just needed some sense of timing.
We completely understand the senator’s frustrations, and until now, it was assumed that the CDC was running the show on when cruises could resume. Cruise Line haves already said they continue to wait on the CDC for further technical guidance so that they can prepare for the restart of operations in the U.S.
Dr. Walensky had made it clear it’s not in her hands, and the real power for deciding on resuming cruises is with the Department of Transport and several others, which we don’t know.
You can watch the video footage between the two officials at the senate hearing below:
Growing Frustration
There are positive signs for resuming cruises coming from everywhere at the moment as the vaccine rollout continues successfully. The UK has already set specific dates on when domestic cruises can return. Many are wondering what about the U.S.
There is no clear answer, there have been rumors that the Biden administration is thinking about limited travel from mid-May. However, nothing officially has been announced.
Meanwhile, cruise lines are starting to lose hope, it seems. We’ve already started seeing a shift to new homeports outside the U.S., such as Royal Caribbean out of the Bahamas and Israel, Celebrity Cruises out of St. Maarten, and Crystal Cruises also out of the Bahamas. Could this be Plan B for the cruise lines? We’ll see in the coming weeks and months.
Miami-Dade Mayor is also pushing towards a cruise restart after sending a letter to Dr. Walensky requesting a meeting. Major cruise ports such as PortMiami need cruising to restart. In Miami-Dade alone, cruise industry activity generates approximately $7 billion and 40,000 jobs annually.
Cruise Hive will continue to keep readers updated on the situations in the United States on the resumptions of cruise operations. For now, Norwegian Cruise Line has already suspended operations until July, Carnival Cruise Line until June, and Royal Caribbean also until June.
The Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) has canceled all unnecessary operations for Monday and Tuesday due to the large influx of corona patients. All 12 beds in the intensive care unit are occupied by patients with Covid-19. Four of them are from Bonaire because the hospital there already reached its limits earlier this week. A total of 23 corona patients were admitted to the CMC. Doctors have found that it mainly concerns relatively young people between the ages of 30 and 50, which they attribute to the British variant.
In 2 weeks, the number of active infections on Curaçao has increased tenfold to over 1,000. Authorities announced a press conference for Monday. It may then be announced that the Netherlands is being asked for assistance. Shortly after the outbreak of the pandemic, the Netherlands sent IC units and medical personnel to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. https://dossierkoninkrijksrelaties.nl/2021/03/21/ziekenhuis-curacao-slaat-alarm-ic-vol-met-coronapatienten-operaties-geannuleerd/
Le président Gibbs salue les performances du lycée Robert Weinum et du lycée Professionnel des îles du nord
« Alors que le lycée Robert Weinum vient d’être classé sur la première marche des meilleurs lycées de France dans le palmarès annuel des lycées du journal Le Parisien, et que le lycée professionnel des îles du nord a été reconnu parmi les établissements français performants en 2020 avec 92% de réussite au bac, je tiens à saluer ces résultats valorisants pour notre territoire et ses établissements scolaires.
Ce classement, qu’il faut bien entendu analyser avec tous ses paramètres, traduit la valeur de l’enseignement dispensé à Saint-Martin et aussi le travail des élèves qui sont au cœur de cette réussite collective.
A ce titre, je félicite le corps enseignant, les équipes pédagogiques et les directeurs de nos deux lycées pour leur implication au service des élèves.
En cette période tourmentée, ces résultats sont une bouffée d’oxygène et contribuent à valoriser l’image de notre territoire. Ils traduisent le potentiel de la jeunesse saint-martinoise et sa capacité à ne rien lâcher malgré les épreuves de ces derniers mois.
Les élus du conseil territorial se joignent à moi pour saluer l’ensemble des acteurs éducatifs ayant contribué à la réussite de nos lycéens. A travers eux, c’est toute une communauté scolaire qu’il faut reconnaître.
Nous encourageons tous les élèves de Saint-Martin et leurs enseignants, sans oublier les parents dont le rôle reste essentiel dans ce cheminement vers l’excellence ».
SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – The board of the United St. Maarten (US) party on Sunday said the NA/UP coalition has successfully managed to confuse the entire population about its position regarding the UN petition as well as that regarding the Caribbean Reform Entity known as COHO.
The US board pointed out that the coalition has yet to clearly explain to the people what its long-term plan is after the results of this petition is announced, no matter which side of the fence it falls. Worse yet, the US board said, there is obviously a very clear split about COHO between the Prime Minister and the coalition MPs.
“The governing coalition is clearly sitting on opposite sides of the discussion and the people of St. Maarten are worse off for it. There is no sense of true leadership in the country because it appears as if the coalition members each are running their own domain,” the USP board said.
It continued: “The Prime Minister is moving full speed ahead with the country package, speeding towards the establishing of the COHO. Much in the country package will require legislative amendments. The COHO legislation as well as the country budget has yet to be presented. The Prime Minister is dodging and evading questions about the petition. In the meantime, individual MPs are each saying different things when it comes to the when it comes to the petition and the COHO. Where are we going?” The US board asked.
It added that along with presenting a petition, the initiators should have by now presented a plan to the country on what it can expect and what the people should prepare for. The board dubbed the governing style of the current coalition as “visionless” with “no care for the people.”
“If the petition concludes that the COHO tramples on our autonomy and against certain laws and conventions, how will the Prime Minister proceed? Because she seems set on pushing the COHO through based on her letters to State Secretary Knops. If the petition threatens liquidity support, what is the plan B of the coalition?
“It is unacceptable and irresponsible of the governing coalition to not have any of these answers when asked. Already it seems like nobody vetted the petition, including the Prime Minister who admitted she didn’t read it. The people of St. Maarten deserve better than this kind of “might is right” leadership. The coalition seems to rely on the numbers it has for its majority and not care about the people,” the USP board said.
PHILIPSBURG – Residents of Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire can only go to Sint Maarten from Monday if they can hand over a negative PCR test that is not older than 72 hours. Sint Maarten announced on Sunday that it would place the ABC islands on the list of countries with a high risk. On Sint Maarten (more than 40,000 inhabitants) there have been very few corona-infected patients for a long time. On Saturday there were eighteen active infections.
Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire are faced with a significant increase in the number of corona infections. This is already clearly noticeable in the local hospitals on Bonaire and Aruba, where other medical care is at risk. Bonaire has already sent four corona patients who need intensive care to Curaçao.
Curaçao (nearly 160,000 inhabitants) had registered 1,000 infected corona patients on Saturday, Aruba (more than 100,000 inhabitants) had 417 and Bonaire (more than 20,000 inhabitants) 434. There is a curfew on all three islands. On Curaçao and Bonaire it starts at 9 p.m., on Aruba at midnight.
The CMC hospital in Curaçao says that the number of patients infected with Covid-19 is increasing. As a result, non-emergency surgeries scheduled for Monday and Tuesday will in any case be canceled. On Sunday afternoon, 23 patients with a Covid-19 infection were admitted to the hospital, of which eleven are in intensive care. Four patients have been transferred from Bonaire. According to the hospital, it is striking that many relatively young patients, between 30 and 40 years old, have to be admitted to the ICU. According to the hospital, this is a result of the British corona variant on the island.
Turns out Parliamentarians Grisha Marten and Rolando Brison found out about Silveria’s decision not to join their revolution on this blog last night. Chris was Toontje, Grisha and Rolando cohort, until he saw the writing on the wall.
