Regional News

(Trinidad Guardian) As he recalled his grandfather’s tales of coffins lining the churches in Mason Hall during the 1918 Spanish Influenza, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday said Government will use a heavy hand if it needs to intervene in large gatherings.

(Jamaica Gleaner) In a grim assessment of the aviation industry’s tailspin, Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett said yesterday that traditional tourism as “we know it” is coming to a screeching halt.

(Jamaica Observer) Tullow Oil Plc has fully written off its oil exploration licence for the Walton-Morant Basin offshore Jamaica, on which it has taken a US$36-million hit.

(Jamaica Observer)  Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced three more confirmed cases of COVID-19.

(Jamaica Star) Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that, Jamaica’s air and sea ports will be closed to incoming passenger traffic, effective 11:59pm Saturday March 21, 2020 for a period of 14 days.

(Jamaica Gleaner) After being on suspension for 18 years, fifty-nine-year-old police constable Newton Bentley was on Thursday freed by the Court of Appeal of perverting the course of justice.

(Jamaica Observer) Foul play and the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been ruled out in the death of a 39-year-old American woman whose body was discovered in her hotel room at RIU Montego Bay by workers on Wednesday.

(Jamaica Star) A Westmoreland man was beaten by angry members of a household, after he broke into their house in the Frome community and stole two bottles of rubbing alcohol and a can of Lysol spray.

(Jamaica Gleaner) A Westmoreland woman seen in a viral video being punched repeatedly by her boyfriend has reportedly told police investigators that she does not wish to press criminal charges against him.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaica has confirmed another case of the Coronavirus. This has pushed to 16, the number of confirmed cases.

(Trinidad Guardian) Parliament will today enforce regulations under the Public Health Ordinance (PHO) that will give Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh power to shut down bars, casinos, members’ clubs and restaurants across the country during the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

(Reuters) – Latin America’s major airlines sharply curtailed international flights yesterday because of the coronavirus outbreak as Panama and Colombia imposed month-long travel bans and the largest carrier cut the salaries of 43,000 employees.

(Trinidad  Guardian) Police continue their search for Palmiste businessman Wade Charles, whose burnt rental car was found after he went missing on Tuesday.

(Barbados Nation) A person who travelled from Barbados is among three who tested positive for COVID-19 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

(Trinidad Guardian)  Two more people have tested positive for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), taking the total of infected individuals in Trinidad and Tobago to nine.

(Jamaica Star) A 38-year-old farmer from Bethel Town, Westmoreland, said that he was beaten and thrown off a bus on Monday, after he sneezed multiple times and was accused of carrying the deadly COVID-19.

(Trinidad Express) Top Trinidad and Tobago female cyclist Teniel Campbell, based in Italy, has informed her supporters and the national community of her well-being, stating she is safe.

(Jamaica Star) Elephant Man has apologised to the airport staff at Sangster International, health minister Dr Christopher Tufton and the people of Jamaica for potentially exposing them to the new coronavirus.

(Jamaica Observer) As church members stay away from Saturday and Sunday services in droves to stave off the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), one bishop has chastised such Christians for being “cowardly, unbelieving”, warning they would end up in a lake of “fire and brimstone”.

(Trinidad Guardian) Not even foreign spouses or children of T&T nationals will be allowed into the country while the ban on non-nationals entering the country is in place, says National Security Minister Stuart Young.