With a look at some of the top stories making the news today, September 21 across your Caribbean-American community in South Florida, I’m…for CNW 90.
Today’s newscast is brought to you by the Florida Department of Health;
To help stop the spread of COVID-19, The Florida Department of Health in Broward County reminds everyone to practice social distancing, wash your hands often with soap and water and cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing.
Coming up in the newscast, the United States mourns the death of trailblazing supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jamaica gets massive field hospital from the United States and Trinidad police to start monitoring COVID-19 patients.
Now for the news in the detail
On Friday, Americans were plunged into mourning over the death of US Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg, also known as RBG, was the second woman to serve on the highest court in America’s history and was known as a pioneering advocate for women’s rights. The US Supreme Court announced that she died from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer at 85 years old.
RBG, a native of New York, had been nominated to the Supreme Court by former US President Bill Clinton in 1993. As the most prominent member of the Supreme Court, her rulings over the last 27 years struck down several discriminatory laws and paved the way for abortion rights, same-sex marriage, the right for women to work while pregnant and rulings that gave women more financial freedom from their male partners.
Following the announcement of her death, US President Donald Trump said he would move immediately to fill her vacancy on the supreme court. If Trump is to replace Justice Ginsburg, it could cement a conservative majority for years, giving Republican appointees six of the nine seats. Many Americans have expressed fear that some liberal rulings may be overturned in a conservative US Supreme Court.
In Caribbean News,
The United States government has gifted Jamaica a 70-bed mobile field hospital to assist the island in its COVID-19 fight. The facility, which is worth US$753,000, was transported to Kingston on September 19 by the US Air Force. The field hospital was purchased as part of US Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) ongoing assistance to the Caribbean. In a statement, SOUTHCOM said that the hospital can house up to 70 patient beds and is equipped with the latest technology to assist medical personnel. The setup of the hospital is timely, as COVID-19 deaths in Jamaica have doubled in the past two weeks, to a total of 67 as of September 20. SOUTHCOM said the field hospital was donated “on behalf of the American people.”
And in Trinidad and Tobago, The local police says it will be monitoring persons who have tested positive for the coronavirus amid reports that they have not been adhering to the quarantine protocols. Police Commissioner Gary Griffith said that the police through 85 Emergency Response Patrol vehicles will start visiting the homes of COVID-19 patients to ensure that they are remaining indoors. This is after reports that persons have leaving their homes and going out to supermarkets, shops and restaurants. Griffith noted that it is an offence under the Quarantine Act to break quarantine and this carries a fine of TT$6,000 or six months in prison. He said that several persons have already been charged with breaching the Quarantine Act. As of September 20, Trinidad and Tobago recorded over 3,800 COVID-19 cases and 64 deaths.
For more information on these and other stories, visit CNWNETWORK.com. Remember to pick up this week’s copy of our Caribbean National Weekly at your nearest Caribbean – American outlet.
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