One-Minute Reads … news from around the region

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Public warned about eating fish trapped in sargassum

The Department of Marine Resources and Fisheries in the House of Assembly has called on the public to refrain from eating seafood that has been washed ashore by the influx of sargassum on beaches.

The department warned that the consumption of the marine species found in the sargassum poses a risk to human health.

The statement said that the seafood may have eaten toxic or poisonous substances such as copper poisoning, may have died longer than initially thought, and may have accumulated high levels of pathogenic bacteria.

GUYANA

UNICEF launches digital platform to address pandemic

UNICEF has partnered with Guyana's Ministry of Public Health to launch a digital platform to facilitate community engagement, to improve efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

The platform will also serve to protect children from its direct and indirect consequences such as food shortages, strained healthcare systems, violence and lost education.

According to Health Minister Volda Lawrence, from the inception of the pandemic, the ministry invited the public to be part of the efforts against COVID-19.

It will seek to find, among other things, what individuals know about COVID-19 and how they behave in response to it, with an aim to provide a better understanding of how people experience the crisis.

The survey will be conducted every two weeks and will cover all 10 regions.

WASHINGTON, DC

Business leaders unveil COVID-19 recommendations

The Inter-American Bank (IDB) says the Americas Business Dialogue (ABD) has released a series of recommendations that seek to support regional governments in their health and economic response to COVID-19.

The IDB said the 17 measures proposed by the ABD are found in the document, 'Policy Recommendations on Addressing the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic and Mitigating Its Impacts'.

The Washington-based financial institution said the recommendations pursue two objectives, first, to ensure that the private sector can continue to efficiently supply critical goods and services, and second, to ease the burden of the economic impact of the pandemic.

Among the proposals, the IDB said the recommendations ask governments to ensure that international trade and investment flows continue uninterrupted.

GRENADA

Trade union wants coronavirus protocol for infected workers

President of the Grenada Trades' Union Council, Andre Lewis, has denounced the move by some employers here to demand that other workers continue to turn up for duties even though one of their colleagues has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Grenada last Friday joined a handful of other Caribbean countries observing May Day, the traditional day for workers. While the traditional parade and rally were curtailed because of the social-distancing policy initiated by the authorities to prevent the spread of the virus, Lewis said unions and workers must not allow employers to demand that workers turn up for work in an environment that is not safe.

ANTIGUA & BARBUDA

PM issues apology

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has made a public apology to Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle after Pringle refused to be part of an Economic Recovery Committee (ERC) announced by the Cabinet late last month.

"I apologise to Hon Jamale Pringle for anything I may have said in the past that offended him. Now kindly proceed to execute your constitutional duties as opposition leader," Browne said in a brief message posted on his Facebook page.

Pringle said he found it disrespectful that no invitation had been issued to him or to the main opposition United Progressive Party ahead of the first meeting of the ERC that was scheduled for April 27.

But Browne said that having offered Pringle a public apology, he is anticipating that the opposition leader would reconsider his position.