The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily COVID-19 update this afternoon (Thursday 31st March 2022) that there are 103 new COVID-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago plus four (4) additional deaths. T&T’s total active positive cases is currently at 6,859.

​The number of new cases is the lowest for the month and represents a 60.54% decrease in reported cases from yesterday.

​There have been 10,093 new cases and 122 deaths in the month of March. Compared to February, cases are down 37.77% and deaths are down 45.54%.

The Ministry reported 261 new cases yesterday plus five (5) more unfortunate deaths. The country’s death toll has increased to 3,750. As of 30th March 2022, 260 deaths were fully vaccinated persons while 3,096 deaths were not fully vaccinated. 390 deaths were recorded prior to 24th May 2021 (date at which the first group of vaccinated persons became fully vaccinated).

A total of 708,940 persons have been fully vaccinated, representing 50.6% of the population. Meanwhile, 691,060 persons are not fully vaccinated (only received a first dose or no doses), representing 49.4% of the population. 145,568 persons in total have taken a booster shot.

Based on data from 22nd July 2021 - 30th March 2022, 3,065 patients in the parallel healthcare system (Hospitals and step-down facilities) are fully vaccinated, representing 17.7%, while 14,274 are not fully vaccinated, representing 82.3%.

The Ministry states that the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during a 3-day period between 28th - 30th March 2022 and not the last twenty-four (24) hours.

The Ministry also notes that there are currently 180 COVID-19 positive patients in total being treated at Hospitals and step-down facilities. Four (4) are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and four (4) are in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

A Post-Cabinet Media Briefing was held at 2:30pm this afternoon (Thursday 31st March 2022) at the Diplomatic Centre in St. Ann’s to update the public on several important matters in Trinidad and Tobago.

Below are the key points discussed today, courtesy of TTT Live Online:

- Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Stuart Young, assured citizens that the Commission of Enquiry looking into the tragic deaths of four (4) divers at the Paria facility in Pointe-a-Pierre, will take place.

- Minister Young said the Chairman of the Commission of Enquiry, Sir Dennis Morrison, is expected in T&T on 18th April 2022, and he has asked Sir Morrison, along with Subsea Specialist Gregory Wilson, and Lead Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, to present themselves to the public during the week of 18th April 2022 to say how they intend to conduct the Commission of Enquiry.

- Minister of Trade and Industry, Paula Gopee-Scoon, confirmed that Cabinet has approved the implementation of an Apprenticeship Programme for the non-energy manufacturing sector. Along with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Education will implement the programme (through the MIC Institute of Technology). The National Training Agency and TTMA will also partner with the Ministries on this initiative.

- The Apprenticeship Programme is expected to be launched in the next four (4) to six (6) weeks.

If you missed the Post-Cabinet Media Briefing, you can watch it below in its entirety.

[Source: TTT Live Online]

Sari­ka Rame­sar, 42, of Debe, was killed on Wednesday afternoon (30th March 2022) af­ter a truck slammed in­to the ve­hi­cle she was in along the Solomon Ho­choy High­way Ex­ten­sion near Debe.

Ramesar’s hus­band Mi­tra, 52, and 10-year-old son Naveen were in­jured in the ac­ci­dent. Mitra, a jew­eller, was driving the family home in their sil­ver Hyundai Tuc­son af­ter a busi­ness trans­ac­tion, when the ve­hi­cle de­vel­oped a prob­lem and Mi­tra pulled off the road­way on the South­ern side of the High­way, be­tween the Es­per­ance Over­pass and the Debe Fly­over, to await as­sis­tance.

Around 4:30pm, a 6-wheel­er, 10-tonne Mit­subishi truck, dri­ven by a 36-year-old man of Bris­tol Vil­lage, Ma­yaro, loaded with logs and trav­elling in the same di­rec­tion, ran off the road­way. The dri­ver re­port­ed­ly ap­plied brakes and lost con­trol of the truck, which then slammed in­to the back of the fam­i­ly’s sil­ver Hyundai Tuc­son. Both ve­hi­cles flipped and land­ed in the bush­es. The Tuc­son end­ed up fur­ther away from the road­way than the truck and set­tled in a ditch.

A mo­torist who went to the fam­i­ly’s as­sis­tance said he and an­oth­er man re­moved the child from the man­gled wreck. He was con­scious but bleed­ing from his nose. The mo­torist said Rame­sar was un­con­scious and pinned in the ve­hi­cle. He said Rame­sar’s hus­band came out of the ve­hi­cle on his own.

Rela­tives who gath­ered at the scene were seen cry­ing in­con­solably af­ter learn­ing of Rame­sar’s death.

According to Police, Mi­tra and his son were tak­en to the San Fer­nan­do Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal via am­bu­lance and were in sta­ble con­di­tions on Wednesday night. The truck dri­ver was al­so said to be re­ceiv­ing med­ical care at the Hos­pi­tal.

In­ves­ti­ga­tions are con­tin­u­ing.

[Source: T&T Guardian]

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) announced earlier today that the Post-Cabinet Media Briefing will be held at 2:30pm this afternoon (Thursday 31st March 2022) at the Diplomatic Centre in St. Ann’s.

Watch the live stream of the Post-Cabinet Media Briefing below when it begins at 2:30pm, courtesy of TTT.

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

Will Smith is facing possible suspension, expulsion, or other sanctions under the Academy’s Standards of Conduct, according to the statement issued after a meeting of the Board of Governors on Wednesday (30th March 2022).

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences said it has begun “disciplinary proceedings” against Smith after he shockingly slapped Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars on Sunday night (27th March 2022). Officers of the organization’s Board of Governors held an emergency meeting a day after the viral incident.

The statement on Wednesday from the Academy said, “The Board of Governors today initiated disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy’s Standards of Conduct, including inappropriate physical contact, abusive or threatening behavior, and compromising the integrity of the Academy.”

Smith will receive fifteen (15) days’ notice of a vote as well as an opportunity to be heard by written response, and at the next Board meeting scheduled for 18th April 2022, the Academy may take action that could include “suspension, expulsion, or other sanctions permitted by the Bylaws and Standards of Conduct.”

In their statement, the Academy also revealed that said Smith was asked to leave the ceremony, but he refused. The Academy also apologized directly to Rock in the statement, as well as nominees, guests and viewers.

According to reports, the majority of Board members feel Smith should, at the very least, have his membership suspended and that he should not be back at the ceremony next year to carry out the ceremonial tradition, whereby the previous year’s Best Actor presents the Best Actress award on stage.

Following many condemnations of his actions on Sunday night, including from the Academy itself, Smith took to Instagram on Monday (28th March 2022) to apologize to Rock. “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable.”

Rock has yet to make a public statement on the incident. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said that the comedian declined to press charges against Smith.

See the full statement below from the Academy on Wednesday:

[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily COVID-19 update this afternoon (Wednesday 30th March 2022) that there are 261 new COVID-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago plus five (5) additional deaths. T&T’s total active positive cases is currently at 7,031.

​The number of new cases represents a 5.24% increase in reported cases from yesterday. This is the second consecutive day of increasing cases.

There have been 9,990 new cases and 118 deaths so far in the month of March.

The Ministry reported 248 new cases yesterday plus three (3) more unfortunate deaths. The country’s death toll has increased to 3,746. As of 23rd March 2022, 258 deaths were fully vaccinated persons while 3,074 deaths were not fully vaccinated. 390 deaths were recorded prior to 24th May 2021 (date at which the first group of vaccinated persons became fully vaccinated).

A total of 708,940 persons have been fully vaccinated, representing 50.6% of the population. Meanwhile, 691,060 persons are not fully vaccinated (only received a first dose or no doses), representing 49.4% of the population. 145,568 persons in total have taken a booster shot.

Based on data from 22nd July 2021 - 23rd March 2022, 3,014 patients in the parallel healthcare system (Hospitals and step-down facilities) are fully vaccinated, representing 17.6%, while 14,154 are not fully vaccinated, representing 82.4%.

The Ministry states that the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during a 3-day period between 27th - 29th March 2022 and not the last twenty-four (24) hours.

The Ministry also notes that there are currently 175 COVID-19 positive patients in total being treated at Hospitals and step-down facilities. Three (3) are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and four (4) are in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

In a Media Release on Wednesday (30th March 2022), Caribbean Airlines advises that effective from 2nd April 2022, it will increase the number of flights on the air bridge between Trinidad and Tobago. The Airline will operate twenty-four (24) daily services (12 POS-TAB and 12 TAB-POS) to meet the inter-island travel demand.

Flights are available for sale via www.caribbean-airlines.com, Caribbean Airlines Mobile App, Reservations Sales and Service Centres, Ticket Offices and Travel Agents.

Caribbean Airlines is also advising customers that travel safety protocols are in place, including the mandatory wearing of face masks during check-in, while boarding and for the duration of their flight.

The Airline is thanking all travelers for their continued support and understanding.

Seven-year-old Asa­iah Josi­ah, who was the nephew of NAMDE­V­CO Deputy CEO Ray­ber Bowen, drowned in a pool be­hind his grand­par­ents’ home in Table­land on Tuesday afternoon (29th March 2022).

Asa­iah’s moth­er, Ayan­na Josi­ah, 41, of Rien­zi Hous­ing De­vel­op­ment, Cou­va, was vis­it­ing her par­ents’ home at Church Road, War­rell Road, Roberts Vil­lage, when the tragedy oc­curred. Asa­iah was the first of Josi­ah’s three (3) chil­dren.

Ac­cord­ing to re­ports, Asa­iah, a Stan­dard 1 stu­dent, went to the back of the house to play around 1:30pm on Tuesday. When his moth­er checked on him ten (10) min­utes lat­er, how­ev­er, she dis­cov­ered him at the bot­tom of the fam­i­ly’s swim­ming pool. She raised an alarm and he was pulled out of the pool, but ef­forts to re­sus­ci­tate him were un­suc­cess­ful.

Moru­ga/Table­land MP, Michelle Ben­jamin, who spoke with one of the child’s rel­a­tives fol­low­ing the in­ci­dent, told Guardian Me­dia that the bad roads al­leged­ly de­layed the arrival of the am­bu­lance to the scene and now it will nev­er be known if the child’s life could have been saved.

Upon the eventual arrival of the EHS am­bu­lance, med­ical tech­ni­cians per­formed Car­diopul­monary Re­sus­ci­ta­tion (CPR). On the way to the Princes Town Health Fa­cil­i­ty, how­ev­er, the child was un­re­spon­sive in the am­bu­lance. When the med­ical tech­ni­cians got to the Health Fa­cil­i­ty, Po­lice said Doc­tors there worked fever­ish­ly on him but he was pro­nounced dead around 4:30 pm.

Ex­press­ing her con­do­lences to the fam­i­ly, MP Ben­jamin said based on what the rel­a­tive told her, the de­plorable road con­di­tions de­layed the am­bu­lance’s ar­rival to the home. The MP noted that since she has en­tered Of­fice, she has been lob­by­ing for the roads to be re­paired in her con­stituen­cy. “When it comes to the road in­side War­well, it is in a de­plorable state and that would have hin­dered the am­bu­lance from reach­ing the fam­i­ly in a time­ly man­ner and right now they will al­ways be liv­ing with that doubt that an ad­di­tion­al minute, or had the am­bu­lance ar­rived faster, who knows, the child may have been saved,” she said.

She pointed out that just be­fore the en­trance to the fam­i­ly’s home, there were two (2) mas­sive land­slides. “So when it comes to ac­cess­ing homes there is a prob­lem be­cause of the state of the road­way, some is earth­en, some is pitch, and it is not pot­holes, it has craters, so the am­bu­lance ser­vice had to dri­ve at snail’s pace,” Ben­jamin said.

Terrible road conditions in the area are continuing to cost lives. Just last month, a fire ten­der re­spond­ing to a house fire at St Julien’s Trace, Princes Town, had to turn around and use an al­ter­na­tive route to get to the scene due to the de­plorable state of the road. By the time they ar­rived on the scene, the en­tire house was al­ready en­gulfed in flames and the oc­cu­pants, Doo­dooman Sankar, 79 and his wife Ram­daye Sankar, 84, had al­ready per­ished.

Last March, two-year-old Romelu Amani Drakes drowned in an uncovered pool at his school in Cou­va, where he was attending for speech ther­a­py. The owner of the school has since been charged with the unlawful killing of Drakes and the mat­ter is pend­ing in Court.

[Source: T&T Guardian]

The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily COVID-19 update this afternoon (Tuesday 29th March 2022) that there are 248 new COVID-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago plus three (3) additional deaths. T&T’s total active positive cases is currently at 7,134. The number of new cases represents a 90.77% increase in reported cases from yesterday.

There have been 9,729 new cases and 113 deaths so far in the month of March.

The Ministry reported 130 new cases yesterday plus four (4) more unfortunate deaths. The country’s death toll has increased to 3,741. As of 23rd March 2022, 258 deaths were fully vaccinated persons while 3,074 deaths were not fully vaccinated. 390 deaths were recorded prior to 24th May 2021 (date at which the first group of vaccinated persons became fully vaccinated).

A total of 708,762 persons have been fully vaccinated, representing 50.6% of the population. Meanwhile, 691,238 persons are not fully vaccinated (only received a first dose or no doses), representing 49.4% of the population. 145,222 persons in total have taken a booster shot.

Based on data from 22nd July 2021 - 23rd March 2022, 3,014 patients in the parallel healthcare system (Hospitals and step-down facilities) are fully vaccinated, representing 17.6%, while 14,154 are not fully vaccinated, representing 82.4%.

The Ministry states that the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during a 3-day period between 26th - 28th March 2022 and not the last twenty-four (24) hours.

The Ministry also notes that there are currently 183 COVID-19 positive patients in total being treated at Hospitals and step-down facilities. Three (3) are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and five (5) are in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

​This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

Beloved Soca Artiste, Dexter “Blaxx” Stewart, passed away on Monday (28th March 2022) at age fifty-nine (59), following his battle with COVID-19. Blaxx was the leader of D' All Starz Band and was also an International Soca Monarch (ISM) finalist multiple times. News of his death was announced by D' All Starz Band.

Blaxx recently revealed he was battling with various health issues, including with his lungs and kidneys in 2020, for which he was hospitalized, but later recovered.

He was a long-standing member of the band Roy Cape All Stars and also of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires and Blue Ventures. His last management team was Richard Gordon, Giselle Gellineau-Penrose and Kevin Stephen.

Within minutes of the tragic news on Monday, fans began to express their sadness on social media and other platforms, including many in the music fraternity and in politics.

His many hits included 2008’s Breathless, 2011’s Tanti Woi, 2013’s Leh Go, 2018’s Hulk and 2019’s Gyal Owner.

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) shared condolences from Prime Minister Keith Rowley on Monday. The Prime Minister said, “Dexter 'Blaxx' Stewart has been a regular talented exponent of the happy musical culture of Trinidad and Tobago. His contributions were eagerly awaited each year and appreciated by hordes of adoring fans. He will be sorely missed.”

Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, also offered his condolences on social media.

Band members of D'All Starz said he mentored a lot of young artistes, such as Voice, Preedy, Olatunji, Destra, St. Lucia's Teddyson John and Grenada's V'ghn. He would often refer to his young proteges as his soca children.

On his Facebook page, Austin “SuperBlue” Lyons said the news was very sad for him.

Nikki Crosby posted on her page that Blaxx always supported the kids at Nikkiland and never missed a year. She also posted several broken heart emojis.

Devon “Lyrikal” Martin posted on Facebook that Blaxx was a father, friend and a legend in soca. “Thank you for all of your great contributions, your passion…Your love for our culture was admirable and your music and legacy shall live on and on forever!!! Can’t forget to mention the great advice and honesty that you gave me and every other artiste…Thank you Brother,” he said.

The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts said in a release that it was saddened to lose one of TT’s finest Soca artistes and cultural icons. “Blaxx was truly a lover of his culture and his country and was proud to fly the flag of TT wherever he performed. His dynamic stage presence, infectious music and his dedication to the soca artform will certainly not be forgotten,” it said. The Ministry sent its condolences to his family and friends.

On her Facebook page, Nailah Blackman said her heart was saddened to say “Rest In Peace” to a Soca legend. Blaxx was a good friend of her family and a great artiste, she said. She added that he will be dearly missed.

Rapso band 3canal thanked Blaxx for the music, saying his work was over but his music will live on.

Meanwhile, Soca artiste Melly Rose, in a phone interview, said she hopes Blaxx’s legacy will live on and that he was a great human being.

[Source: Newsday]