With a look at some of the top stories making the news today, October 2 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, South Florida schools under pressure to reopen by Monday, American Airlines to offer pre-flight COVID testing to Jamaican travelers and Former West Indies coach Floyd Reifer turns to politics.
Now for the news in the detail
The remaining South Florida states have come under pressure to reopen schools sooner than planned after Florida’s Commissioner of Education sent a letter to Miami-Dade and Broward superintendents last week telling them that their plans to reopen for in-person classes needed to be adjusted to start sooner. In letters addressed to Alberto Carvalho and Robert Runcie, superintendents of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, Commissioner Richard Corcoran told the officials that they needed to reopen schools physically by October 5th, or else submit justifications as to why each individual school could not reopen. Following the letters, Miami-Dade, which had planned to reopen schools on October 14, agreed to begin physical classes on Monday. Broward County, on the other hand, held an official meeting yesterday to vote on the reopening of schools. Superintendent Runcie later announced that schools will begin reopening on Friday, October 9, with all students to be back at school by October 15.
Now for Caribbean News,
As Jamaica looks to boost travel to the island during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has teamed up with American Airlines to offer pre-flight COVID-19 testing to its visitors. Currently, Jamaica requires all tourists to complete a travel authorization online and upload a negative COVID-19 test before arrival. But they will no longer have to do so under the airline’s program. The pre-testing initiative for Jamaica is slated to launch in this month at the Miami International Airport hub. The initial phase of testing will be for Jamaican residents traveling to their home country. If a passenger tests negative for COVID-19 ahead of flying with American, the 14-day quarantine requirement will be be waived. It is expected that the program would then be open to all passengers traveling to Jamaica, including U.S. citizens. The initiative will be extremely beneficial to Jamaicans in the diaspora, especially those living in Florida, which account for a large percentage of the state’s Caribbean-American community. The Bahamas and Hawaii are the other two international destinations that will also be included in the Airline’s pilot program.
Over in Barbados,
Former West Indies coach Floyd Reifer, is putting aside his cricket clothes and will contest the Barbados by-election in the St. George North constituency later this year on a ticket of the main opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP). Prime Minister Mia Mottley has already indicated that voters in the St George North constituency will go to the polls later this year to elect a new parliamentary representative. The 48-year-old Reifer, who was replaced as West Indies coach by Trinidadian Phil Simmons last year, will come against the Barbados Labour Party’s candidate, Toni Moore, who is the general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union. Reifer received the nod to represent the DLP after he defeated four other candidates and was selected by the Executive Council and the General Council on Wednesday night. Reifer, who in 2009 was named captain of a second-string West Indies team to face Bangladesh, will replace Jepter Ince who contested the 2018 election for the DLP.
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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