Caribbean News
TCI: Health Minister challenges CDC over Covid Risk rating; Gets it ‘adjusted’ to Level 1
#TurksandCaicos, June 10, 2021 – The Minister of Health went to bat for the reputation of the Turks and Caicos and not only did he make it to first base, but he scored a home run. Turks and Caicos is now removed from the Level 3, high risk rating for Covid-19 to Level 1, low risk rating and it is a win for the country.
In speaking to DP E Jay Saunders following the remarkable and positive change of rating for the Turks and Caicos he explained, as promised, he did contact the US Centers for Disease Control.
Cabinet supported the decision to challenge the CDC on its rating and the CDC was asked to look at the health data from Turks and Caicos with “new lenses”, said the Deputy Premier.
“We said to them, how is it Turks and Caicos has these numbers and is still rated high risk?”
The data to which the Health Minister and Deputy Premier refers is a less than 1.1 per cent positivity rate for the coronavirus over 28 days and vaccination uptake is at 60 per cent for those having had their first jab, 52 percent fully vaccinated.
Not only does the adjusted rating take Turks and Caicos from being a self-declared safe destination, but the Level 1 rating is a certifiable label which Hon Saunders affirmed “is good for the tourism industry.”
It also validates the hard work of the Government, Ministry of Health & Hospitals and the residents of the Turks and Caicos, who together made sacrifices to shift the once dire situation.
Four months ago, when the Progressive National Party took office, Turks and Caicos was with 280 active cases of Covid-19 and six islands were reporting infections. There were 15 people in hospital and 799 individuals were in self isolation or quarantine. Today, there are only eight active cases on the island of Providenciales, with one person hospitalised for the virus. All other islands have no recorded cases and at least one island is fully open, with over 90 per cent of its residents vaccinated for the coronavirus; Salt Cay.
Saunders said on Monday, the CDC responded with an email to inform the error was in their calculation and that their new standard was not applied to Turks and Caicos.
In other words, no one from the CDC checked for any improvements on the ground in the British Overseas Territory; the harsh rating was – as the Saunders had pointed out – arbitrarily given.
The CDC explained it is using a new formula, but that methodology was not used on the TCI. No reason for the mistake and no apology for the error were given.
What the CDC did say in that email was it altered its threshold from 100 cases per 100,000 to 500 cases per 100,000.
Had the Deputy Premier not contacted the CDC to request a review of the health data, the TCI would very likely have remained at high risk with a warning to ‘Avoid travel’ which would make the destination less attractive to travellers.
Photo caption: We Funk Junakoo Group performs at TCI Tourist Board conference. Photo from TCI Tourist Board
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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