With a look at some of the top stories making the news today, January 11, 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, Broward plans to vaccinate all seniors by early March, Canadians stuck in Jamaica due to new COVID-19 travel protocols and Barbados government to pay for the hotel expenses of tourists.
Now for the news in the detail
Broward Mayor Steve Geller says the county plans to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to all seniors in the county by early March. The state’s vaccination program continues even as some of the major sites reporting limited supplies. Last week, South Florida’s largest COVID-19 testing location, the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, was converted into a vaccination site. The stadium takes 1,000 appointments per day. Elsewhere in the state, Baptist Health South Florida, the Cleveland Clinic, Broward Health and other locations have stopped scheduling appointments due to the overwhelming demand. Mayor of Broward County, Steve Geller says within the next six to eight weeks, all seniors could be vaccinated as long as there are enough vaccines.
Now for Caribbean News,
In Jamaica, thousands of Canadian-Jamaicans and Canadian tourists have been stranded due to the county’s new COVID-19 protocols. On January 7, Canada announced that all people flying into the country would be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test no more than 3 days before their flight. According to Jamaica’s health ministry, an estimated 2,000 Canadians are scheduled to return to the country this week but many persons have experienced difficulty finding testing locations in Jamaica. There are currently nine private labs on the island that offer PCR testing for COVID-19. Health Minister Dr. Chris Tufton said Jamaica could not meet the high demand for testing on such short notice. To help ease the pressure, WestJet airlines later announced that it would allow passengers from Jamaica to travel to Toronto from January 10 to 18 without a negative test.
And in Barbados,
Tourists who have been left waiting for their COVID-19 test results for more than 72 hours, will have the cost of their hotel room paid by the government. The announcement was made by Senator Lisa Cummins during a press conference on Saturday. Cummins said that due to the spike in COVID cases, many visitors have been left waiting for their results for several days. She said that the government will take the blame if tourists aren’t able to enjoy Barbados because they are waiting on test results. The government had initially promised tourists that they would receive their results within 24 hours.
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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