Prime Minister Keith Rowley will be hosting a Press Conference at 2:30pm this afternoon (Saturday 26th June 2021) to update the public about the Government’s latest decisions to deal with COVID-19 in Trinidad and Tobago. Today’s Press Conference was announced by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) only a few hours ago.
The Ministry of Health reported 346 new cases yesterday along with sixteen (16) more deaths. The country’s death toll has reached 791. The record for the most daily cases was set on 21st May 2021 with 708 cases and the record for most daily deaths was set on 18th May 2021 with twenty-three (23) deaths. There have been 7,866 new cases and 296 deaths so far in the month of June. Watch the live stream of the Press Conference below when it begins at 2:30pm, courtesy of TTT.
This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.
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Police used pepper spray during a confrontation in Port-of-Spain overnight. In the end, the Officers of the Port-of-Spain Task Force and Besson Street Police Station arrested eight (8) persons.
According to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), Officers were on mobile patrol around Midnight, on Friday 25th June 2021, in the vicinity of Queen and Nelson Streets, Port-of-Spain, when they observed a group of persons gathered and consuming alcohol in public in contravention with the COVID-19 Public Health Regulations. The Officers approached the group and informed them of the breaches, which resulted in the persons becoming irate and using obscene language against the Officers. Officers managed to arrest one (1) woman during the incident, but then found themselves surrounded by the group whose members began throwing objects and missiles in their direction. The Officers sought assistance from the Besson Street Police Station and a party of Officers led by Sgt. Alexander responded and used pepper spray to effect several arrests in accordance with the Use of Force Policy. Seven (7) men, all of Port-of-Spain, were held by the Officers and are expected to be charged with various offences. During the incident, several loud explosions were heard coming from the rooftop of a nearby building and the Officers immediately proceeded in the direction of the noise. There, they observed a man holding a firearm and shooting into the air. The Officers gave chase, but the man escaped. Several apartments were searched in attempts to locate the gunman, but they proved futile. During the search, 1.3 Kilogrammes of marijuana were found hidden on the rooftop of a building at Duncan Street Plannings. No Officers were injured during this exercise. Investigations are ongoing. The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is reminding the public of the weekend curfew hours for the period Saturday 26th June to Sunday 27th June 2021. The curfew period is from 7pm on Saturday 26th June 2021 to 5am on Sunday 27th June 2021 and 7pm on Sunday 27th June 2021 to 5am on Monday 28th June 2021.
Weekday curfew hours remain unchanged from 9pm to 5am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The TTPS is reminding citizens to observe these periods in light of their purpose “to minimize movement in keeping with the rationale for the State of Emergency, which is to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the population.” The TTPS notes there were reports of heavy volumes of traffic exiting Port-of-Spain and Diego Martin around 7:30pm on Friday night (25th June 2021), after the curfew came into effect. The TTPS says it is committed to enforcing the Emergency Powers Regulations, 2021, and “any person who cannot reasonably account for their presence on the road during the curfew hours will be dealt with in accordance with the law.” Persons requiring emergency assistance during curfew hours are asked to contact the Operational Command Centre at the following hotline numbers: 480-2000, 612-3876, 684-5730, 684-5076, 684-5035 and 684-5233. For clarification on matters of what can and cannot be done during curfew hours and the State of Emergency, please contact the COVID-19 Legal Hotline at 74-COVID (742-6843). The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) announced a short while ago that Prime Minister Keith Rowley will host a Press Conference today (Saturday 26th June 2021) at 2:30pm at the Diplomatic Centre in St. Ann’s.
Since the State of Emergency was announced on 15th May 2021, Trinidad and Tobago has recorded 15,876 new cases and 515 deaths. The State of Emergency has been extended by ninety (90) days. The Ministry of Health reported 346 new cases yesterday along with sixteen (16) more deaths. The country’s death toll has reached 791. The record for the most daily cases was set on 21st May 2021 with 708 cases and the record for most daily deaths was set on 18th May 2021 with twenty-three (23) deaths. There have been 7,866 new cases and 296 deaths so far in the month of June. The above statistics are no doubt still very concerning to the Prime Minister - even with a State of Emergency in effect along with numerous restrictions still in place, the number of new cases and deaths being reported daily remain high. Prime Minister Rowley last addressed the nation on 19th June 2021, exactly one (1) week ago, where he announced that if all goes well, this weekend (from Friday 25th June 2021) could be the last weekend for a 7pm curfew start time. The following weekend (from Friday 2nd July 2021) we can hopefully revert to a 9pm curfew start time, as is the case during the weekdays. The Prime Minister will address this at today’s Press Conference. He reiterated again last Saturday that our borders are still on track to hopefully re-open by mid-July and that he is hoping that schools can re-open for in-person learning in September. What will Prime Minister Rowley announce today? He is expected to possibly announce plans for the re-opening of some sectors of the economy (such as restaurants, bars, etc) on a phased basis with restrictions and controls in place. He previously stated that the construction sector will be first to re-open, which can happen as early as this Monday (28th June 2021). We are also expected to get more firm details on how the re-opening of our borders in mid-July will work, such as the requirements for entry for both vaccinated and non-vaccinated persons. What do you think the Prime Minister will announce today? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates. The Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs is reminding citizens of the curfew hours this weekend, following the ambiguous statements made by Prime Minister Keith Rowley at last Saturday’s Press Conference. Even Minister Stuart Young - a Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) - had to ask the Prime Minister for clarification about this weekend’s curfew hours. Journalists were just as confused and many persons shared the wrong weekend curfew hours on social media.
The official curfew hours for this weekend are as follows:
The Prime Minister noted last Saturday that if all goes well, weekend curfew hours can revert to the normal (weekday) curfew hours - 9pm to 5am - from Friday 2nd July 2021. The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily 4pm update this afternoon (Friday 25th June 2021) that there are 346 new COVID-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago plus sixteen (16) additional deaths. The number of new cases is the highest since 17th June 2021 (at 350) and represents a 55.86% increase in reported cases from yesterday. These new patients will be processed for admission at the discretion of the CMOHs. Information on the latest deaths will be available shortly.
There have been 7,866 new cases and 296 deaths so far in the month of June. The Ministry reported 222 new cases yesterday plus seven (7) deaths. The country’s death toll has increased to 791. T&T’s total positive cases now jumps to 31,775, with 7,613 being active cases. A total of 23,371 patients have recovered from the virus to date. 6,736 persons are in home self-isolation and there are 331 persons in total at State quarantine facilities. A total of 194,212 persons have been vaccinated with a first dose and 63,647 have been fully vaccinated with a second dose. The Ministry states that the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during the period 21st - 24th June 2021 and not the last 24 hours. The Ministry also notes that there are currently 385 COVID-19 positive patients being treated at Hospitals and 146 patients are in step-down/transition facilities across T&T. This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.
South Park Plaza advertised a “Free Hamper Distribution” drive recently, carded for two (2) days - Friday (25th June 2021) and Tuesday (29th June 2021) from 10am to 2pm. However, based on the estimated crowd of 2,000 persons who showed up from early Friday morning, it’s safe to say the management of South Park Plaza greatly underestimated how many people are in need of food in this time of hardship.
The advertisement for the hamper drive stated, “South Park Plaza is inviting households whose jobs have been severely affected by the Pandemic to our Free Hamper Distribution. Please visit our distribution center at South Park Plaza, Main Street for TWO DAYS on: Friday 25th June or Tuesday 29th June from 10am to 2pm. You must walk with a valid ID, limited hampers available, one hamper per household. Please adhere to all safety guidelines.”
Unfortunately, the hamper drive on Friday ended before its scheduled start time, due to the overwhelming crowd. By 10am, the time the distribution had been advertised to start, Police had already dispersed the crowd of an estimated 2,000 people. The lines reached as far as the San Fernando By-Pass. Police diverted traffic, but some people were still trickling in, unaware the event had ended prematurely. From as early as 6am, persons were already lined up outside South Park Plaza. Due to the growing crowd, the distribution started earlier than scheduled, at 8am, and was shut down within an hour. Workers were only able to distribute 100 of the 600 available hampers. The hamper distribution scheduled for Tuesday (29th June 2021) has been wisely postponed. The management of South Park Plaza will be working closely with Police to develop a better distribution system for the hampers. The plan so far, seems to involve co-ordinating with Police to go into various communities to hand out the hampers, instead of having people go to South Park Plaza. Management is hoping as early as next Tuesday to be able to restart the distribution process. Management noted the initiative was part of the South Park Plaza’s corporate social responsibility.
[Source: Newsday]
Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, was quick to respond to Prime Minister Keith Rowley on Wednesday (23rd June 2021) after he accused her in Parliament of contracting COVID-19 and hiding it from the public. In her scathing response, Mrs. Persad-Bissessar said, “Rowley’s creepy infatuation with me hit a new level of weirdness today when he stood in Parliament and lied to the country that I had COVID-19. I am sorry to disappoint my devoted admirers in PNM but I don’t have Covid and I never did.” She noted that almost 800 people have died from COVID-19 and “Rowley must stop dreaming about me and do his job!” The Prime Minister was asked in Parliament whether he took the Pfizer vaccine recently, but he allegedly did not directly answer the question. The Opposition Leader chastised him for not answering the Pfizer question, saying, “Keith Rowley today again lied to the country under Parliamentary privilege when asked the serious question of whether or not he was vaccinated from the supply of Pfizer vaccines that entered the country secretly. He again refused to answer the simple question of whether he took the secret Pfizer vaccine.” Mrs. Persad-Bissessar also shared a video on Facebook, denying she tested positive for COVID-19 and stating she is yet to receive the vaccine. The video also showed the Prime Minister’s heated reaction to the Pfizer question. See the Opposition Leader’s full response below: Rowley’s creepy infatuation with me hit a new level of weirdness today when he stood in Parliament and lied to the country that I had COVID-19. I am sorry to disappoint my devoted admirers in PNM but I don’t have Covid and I never did. The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily 4pm update this afternoon (Thursday 24th June 2021) that there are 222 new COVID-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago plus seven (7) additional deaths. The number of new cases represents a 1.33% decrease in reported cases from yesterday. These new patients will be processed for admission at the discretion of the CMOHs. Information on the latest deaths will be available shortly.
There have been 7,520 new cases and 280 deaths so far in the month of June. The Ministry reported 225 new cases yesterday plus seven (7) deaths. The country’s death toll has increased to 775. T&T’s total positive cases now jumps to 31,429, with 7,640 being active cases. A total of 23,014 patients have recovered from the virus to date. 6,854 persons are in home self-isolation and there are 360 persons in total at State quarantine facilities. A total of 187,774 persons have been vaccinated with a first dose and 57,239 have been fully vaccinated with a second dose. The Ministry states that the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during the period 20th - 23rd June 2021 and not the last 24 hours. The Ministry also notes that there are currently 412 COVID-19 positive patients being treated at Hospitals and 152 patients are in step-down/transition facilities across T&T. This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates. Police Constable No. 19163, Brad Lee Lum, has been suspended following an investigation into his breach of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) Regulations. The Officer, who has seven (7) years of service, was last attached to the CID-Anti-Kidnapping Unit.
According to the TTPS, on Saturday 19th June 2021, PC Lee Lum distributed a post on social media via the Internet, “in the nature of a personal comment on matters of public expression of a political nature, contrary to Regulation 138 (1) of the Police Service Regulations, 2007.” On the issue of the Officer’s suspension, Commissioner of Police, Gary Griffith, said that he cannot condone the irresponsible behaviour of the Officer who alluded that it was time for an insurrection in his social media post. The Commissioner added that “having served this country during the violent 1990 insurrection, and having seen the damage done to our country and our democracy”, he was appalled that an Officer would even hint that insurgents should overthrow the Government. The CoP made it clear that in comparison to the average citizen, when a person joins the Police Service, they lose certain liberties regarding freedom of speech. He added that the TTPS expects strict adherence to the Regulations and recalled that another Officer was recently suspended and remains on suspension because he appeared on the front page of a daily newspaper, openly endorsing a political party and showing party affiliation, contrary to said Regulations. Commissioner Griffith reiterated that the TTPS will not tolerate Officers who show political partisanship and make comments against the State. |
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