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TCI proving COVID Safe; 21,000 tests so far with only 94 testing positive

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#Providenciales, Turks and Caicos – March 21, 2021 – Tourists are living Covid-19 safe lifestyles when they vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the luxury resorts report that testing is averaging around 1,000 per day with no positives for the virus on most days.

“There is no place in the region safer than Turks and Caicos for vacations.  It’s like our guests are living in a safe bubble and now with the great work of the Ministry of Health, local numbers are down as well; so to me, Turks and Caicos is the safest vacation spot,” said Ken Patterson, CEO Seven Stars Resort.

Patterson informs his resort, which sits on World’s Leading Beach, Grace Bay has conducted 6,228 tests since the travel requirement came into force for the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in January 2021.

“Since January 25, we have tested 6,228 people and over that time only eight people have tested positive.  When they did, we turned that information over to the Ministry of Health which tested them again using the PCR method,” informed Patterson.

Like other resorts, there is a contingency plan for isolation and quarantine of guests who do end up with a positive for the coronavirus. 

Since the new travel requirements of leading source markets have kicked in, the TCI Ministry of Health Covid-19 dashboard reveals there have been 20,896 tests performed and 94 of those tests are returning positives for Covid-19.

Evidence that mandatory public health regulations for physical distancing, face mask wearing, reduced capacity at restaurants, bars and on pleasure boats are working to stave off any surge in cases of Covid-19; an enviable feat for the tiny islands which sit about 90-minutes, by plane, off the southern coast of Florida.

A report by Magnetic Media raised alarm and was a wrong reflection of the Ministry of Health situational report.  The Ministry explained that actually, the positives shown on the dashboard are reflective of new tests performed in a day and not positives for the coronavirus. 

“Nine hundred and two tests were carried out on March 19, 2021, with a total of three positive results reported for that date (0.3%).  The number of positives pale in comparison to the number of negatives.  Positive cases undergo confirmatory testing at the National Public Health Laboratory and are included with the total number of positives reported,” said a Saturday statement issued by the Ministry.

The Ministry of Health adds the rapid antigen testing, approved for 21 sites around the Turks and Caicos since January is taking samples from both locals and guests.

Vaccine distribution in the Turks and Caicos is also well underway, with over 32 percent of the adult population having had their first jab of the UK-gifted Pfizer/BioNtech brand of the Covid-19 vaccine.  Ken Patterson said most of his staff has already been inoculated; as many as 11,283 people across seven islands in the British overseas territory have receive the first shot 

Magnetic Media, on Saturday, issued a statement explaining the misinterpretation of the data on the dash board.  Our apologies for any inconvenience the report would have caused.

Magnetic Media is a Telly Award winning multi-media company specializing in creating compelling and socially uplifting TV and Radio broadcast programming as a means for advertising and public relations exposure for its clients.

Caribbean News

Millions to come from FSC 

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Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

 

 

#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – Revenue from the Turks and Caicos’ Financial Services Sector will more than double in the next few years, if E Jay Saunders, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister gets his way.  It ‘s one of the reasons the country is investing so much capital into getting off of the EU blacklist and becoming a secure trustworthy financial destination. 

“The FSC’s revenues for 2020/21 was $10.5M— the figures for 2021/22, would be about similar,” he said.  He further explained that $10.5 million from the FSC represented about 2.6 percent of the country’s 408.5-million-dollar revenue.  Though it increased to $14 million in the 2021/22 financial year, finance is still a small fry compared to tourism or even stamp duties but that will change, says Saunders. 

“My revenue goal for the Government by the year 2029 [or] the election after the next election – is $500M.  By that time, I want the financial sector (FSC) revenues to represent at least 5% ($25M).  So that’s my goal for the financial sector by 2029.” 

This goal, should it be met, would increase the Government’s revenue by 100 million dollars, a significant increase in spending power for local upgrades and improvements for Turks and Caicos residents and visitors. 

Saunders says it’s time for the TCI to diversify its sources of revenue to make sure that what happened in the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw residents out of a job for months, will not happen again.  Tourism now makes up around 80 percent of the country’s GDP.  The Minister of Finance wants to push that down to 60 or even 50 percent.  

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Caribbean News

New ASHLEY’S LEARNING CENTRE CONCERT

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Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer

 

 

#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – Musicians from the New World Symphony will be in the Turks and Caicos in concert next month and residents are invited to attend in support of the future of Ashley’s Learning Center.

A fairly young orchestral academy based in Miami, the New World Symphony was launched in the 1980s by 1987, Michael Tilson Thomas and Ted Arison,Carnival Cruises founder.  From the 1500 applicants who vie for a spot each year, the symphony accepts around 35 music graduates annually for training fellowships. 

A select few of those graduates will be in country on April 8th headlining at the Ashley’s Learning Center concert ‘We’re all in this together’.  The concert which also feature local artistes will be held at Brayton Hall on Venetian Road from 6 pm to 8:30 pm

Tickets are available ON ISLEHELP  $75 PER GENERAL SEAT $125 PER PREMIUM SEAT $195 PER GALLERY SEAT – with /FREFRESHMENTS. 

For TICKET RESERVATIONs you can call: 649-341-2304 or email  EVENTS@ASHLEYSLEARNINGCENTER.ORG 

 

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Caribbean News

Women’s Health Connectivity and health a study for TCI’S benefit

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Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

 

 

#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – As the country moves toward new fiber optic connectivity, bridging the digital divide could be a game changer for healthcare and other family-friendly services in the TCI. 

The power of universal digital connectivity across countries was one of the recurring themes when the United Nations in partnership with the Network of Afro Caribbean Women and the Diaspora recently explored how technology, innovation and education are being used to address women’s health issues. 

The session aimed to highlight success stories and  explore how those processes can be replicated to help women and girls globally including in The Turks and Caicos.  

The UN explained that despite holding a 70 percent majority in healthcare jobs, women are poorly represented in leadership roles and subject to systemic gender inequalities that can make receiving healthcare challenging.

As delegates from Chile and Rwanda, who were also partners in the session, shared the upgrades to their countries’ systems that had significantly improved the level of care available to their women, digital connectivity was a deciding factor.

In Rwanda the health ministries have begun to use drones to deliver medicine, SMS messages to alert about health threats and a completely digitized health care that eliminates paper documents for pregnant women and makes records accessible to any doctor,  immediately. 

Rwandan delegate, Rose Rwabuhihi shared tips that countries should keep in mind when trying to implement new processes to benefit women and the wider community.

  • Partnership and sustainability are key factors to successful programs. She urged governments not to give up on projects or allow their partners to give up on them halfway.
  • Education campaigns to introduce residents to the technology: “We need to build skills and deepen the knowledge so they can use the innovations that have been put in place especially in rural areas.

Poor connectivity and technological issues have plagued the TCI for years especially in the islands outside of Providenciales.  Government has substantially acknowledged this disparity in communications services and is investing in a new undersea cable to augment services in the Turks and Caicos.

The UNs perspectives can now ignite a fire for even more family friendly, digital services.

In fact,Senator Yasna Provoste Campillay, the Chilean Delegate explained how connectivity and videoconferencing had been used to reach the county’s women in the most rural of areas. Chile is a long country, its landmass spread lengthwise creating unique communication challenges. While healthcare in Chile is separated by length the Turks and Caicos islands are disconnected by the ocean and solutions that prove useful for the South American country could well be worth implementing  locally. 

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