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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — More than 400,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday, the eve of the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden, who has made the fight against the coronavirus a priority of his first term. The bleak threshold was reached only about a month after the US recorded its 300,000th death from the disease, in mid-December, and nearly a year since it announced its first COVID death, at the end of February 2020. The toll in the world’s wealthiest nation remains by far the highest in…

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to sign dozens of executive orders and send sweeping bills to Congress in his first days in office, aiming to roll back some of Donald Trump’s signature policies on immigration and climate change while taking action to ramp up the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to sign dozens of executive orders and send sweeping bills to Congress in his first days in office, aiming to roll back some of Donald Trump’s signature policies on immigration and climate change while taking action to ramp up the government’s response to the…

BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) — A car thief who found a toddler in the backseat of a stolen vehicle drove back and chastised the mother for leaving the child unattended before taking off again, police in Oregon said. The woman went into a grocery store about 15 feet from the car Saturday, leaving her 4-year-old child inside with the engine running and the vehicle unlocked, said Beaverton police spokesman Officer Matt Henderson. A store employee told authorities the woman was in the market for a few minutes before someone began driving away with the SUV. Once the thief realized the toddler was…

Brussels, Belgium (AFP)— The European Union is aiming to inoculate 70 per cent of its adult population against the coronavirus by June, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas told a media conference on Tuesday. That aim, agreed in a meeting of all EU commissioners, comes as most member states are struggling to achieve liftoff with their vaccination programmes. The bloc started jabs three weeks ago and has so far approved two vaccines — from BioNTech/Pfizer and from Moderna — with others soon expected to follow. But its pace of vaccination trails behind countries such as the US, Britain, Israel and…

Caribbean Airlines advises that effective January 26, 2021, all passengers traveling into the United States of America (USA), will be required to present results of a negative COVID-19 test in order to travel. It will be mandatory to have a COVID-19 test no older than 3 days before the flight departure date to the United States. Travelers must provide written documentation of their laboratory test result (paper or electronic copy) to the airline at check-in. Based on the instructions issued by the Public Health Authorities, passengers who do not provide documentation of a negative COVID-19 test result will not be…

CALIFORNIA — California health officials are recommending a temporary halt to distribution of a particular lot of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine out of concern over allergic reactions. More than 330,000 doses of the particular lot were distributed to 287 health-care providers across California earlier this month. One particular community vaccination clinic reported up to 10 allergic reactions to the vaccine within a 24-hour period, considered an unusually high number. State officials say the expected rate of reaction to similiar vaccines is normally around 1 in 100,000. The name and location of the clinic was not released, but the facility switched to…

The government is moving to increase this country’s capacity to conduct more timely testing for the Covid-19 virus as confirmed cases spike and the demands for exit testing increase. Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves spoke on the issue in his address to the nation last night amid the spiraling Covid-19 situation in this country. Dr Gonsalves said the capacity of the Molecular Laboratory will be enhanced significantly with the introduction of an automated extraction machine which is already here. He said that, additionally, his government will be formally approaching private-run laboratories to have them process exit screenings for regional and…

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves continues to hold his position, refusing to heed calls for a lockdown of the country allowing only movement of essential workers. Dr Gonsalves contends that lockdowns by countries in the region and further did not redound to the greater good of the nations. He expressed strongly that strategic approaches involving stricter regulations and the management and adherence to the recommended protocols can be more beneficial in terms of managing the spread of the virus. “Experiences in other Caricom member states, and globally, suggest that states of emergencies, curfews and total lockdowns have not been nearly…

The government has outlined its plan which aims to curb the spiking Covid-19 confirmed cases in this country – a spike which began towards the end of last December. Between December 28th, 2020, and January 17th, 2021, there were 384 confirmed cases compared to 110 PCR positive cases between March 11th, 2020, and December 27th. Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves outlined the six-point plan as he addressed the nation last night. “Strategically, in the current circumstances, the plan is essentially six-fold. 1) Flatten the curve by reducing the incidence of Covid-19 and the morbidity and mortality connected thereto with a…

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, his government and health authorities are concerned about the rapidly rising cases of Covid-19 in this country. In a televised national address last night, Prime Minister Gonsalves looked at the statistics and how the cases were more constant in increase last year compared to the spiking situation so far this year over a short period. “The raw data on Covid-19 tell a worrying story even as the debate ensues as to whether St Vincent and the Grenadines, like St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda or Barbados, for example, are situations of sporadic cases, or cluster of…