Daily Archive: Thursday, April 23, 2020

The Ministry of Public Health today said that the number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus rose to 70 from 67 yesterday.

The US Embassy today said that US$475,000 ($100m) is being released by the US to Guyana’s COVID-19 fight.

The Police say they are investigating the murder of Zahir Ali , aged 40 years,  a fisherman  of Lot 78 Mosquito Hall, Unity,  Mahaica, East Coast Dememara which occurred on 2020-04-22 about 7.20 pm  allegedly by two males, one of whom has since been detained while the other is being sought.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – A record 26 million Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last five weeks, confirming that all the jobs created during the longest employment boom in U.S.

FRANKFURT,  (Reuters) – The European Union’s drug regulator warned again today against using two older malaria drugs to treat COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, outside trials or national emergency use programmes, citing potentially lethal side-effects.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) chief executive officer Johnny Grave has indicated that salary cuts for the executive, players and officials have not been ruled out, with revenue generation hampered as the COVID-19 crisis drags on.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Locking horns with a reinforced Australia will be a “different ball game” if India get a chance to contest the series Down Under later this year, opener Rohit Sharma said yesterday.

Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll percentage of 10.4 is far beyond the World Health Organization’s estimated 3 – 4 % mortality rate and this is of great concern to the Public Health Ministry.

With no timeframe for the end of the current Covid-19 pandemic by international medical organizations, Fruta Conquerors Women’s team head-coach Delon Williams, said  that he will be troubled by the eventual state of the female game when the situation ultimately recedes.

Both the Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana (AOAG) and the National Air Transport Association (NATA) have expressed grave concern over the accusation by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCCA) of ‘price gouging’. 

Mental skills coach of the West Indies Women’s team, Amanda Johnson, believes athletes should utilize their time at home to improve their mental health.

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is expected to meet  today to discuss the draft order for the proposed recounting of votes for the 2020 General Elections and opposition- Commissioner Sase Gunraj is hoping for  finality on the terms so that the counting can begin soonest.

The financial crisis facing the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is likely to force the company to approach the caretaker government for aid in order to pay employees’ wages and salaries for May, a source on Tuesday told Stabroek News.

The Coronavirus has not only affected sport on the field of play but off the field as well.

The Guyana Volleyball fraternity is in a state of mourning following the death of former national player Shawn Sutherland. 

The residents of Dantzig and Columbia villages in Mahaicony are becoming increasingly alarmed as the sea defences in the area erode more and more every day.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Former head coach Russell Latapy is demanding the approximately US$1 million owed to him by the embattled Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).

While a number of businesses remain closed to the public on Regent Street, those of the non-essential type which keep their doors open are saying that they have no other choice in order to keep bread on their tables and those of their employees.

CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) – The expected lifting of lockdown restrictions in South Africa at the end of the month is unlikely to result in a resumption of sport and will add to frustrations in a country besotted with both football and rugby.

At least 32 Crabwood Creek loggers, who are stuck at various points up the Corentyne River are running out of supplies since neither they nor their employers are able to traverse the river, after the Suriname authorities closed access due to that country’s COVID-19 curfew. 

KINGSTON, Jamaica,  CMC – With the Jamaica Tallawahs reportedly set for a shake-up ahead of the 2020 Caribbean Premier League (CPL), West Indies all-rounder Rovman Powell is hoping to get the chance to lead the squad.

Presidential candidate of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, Irfaan Ali, on Monday said that there have been enough delays in the post-elections crisis and “undemocratic forces will not succeed” as he called for the will of the people to be honoured.

The annual Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)/New York Tri-State Under-19 tournament is in jeopardy following a nationwide lockdown in Guyana and the United States as a result of the global Coronavirus pandemic. 

A 30-year-old prisoner was on Tuesday night chopped to death during a scuffle with other inmates in the Holding Bay of the Lusignan Prison, one day after four others escaped from the facility.

(Reuters) – England’s National League clubs, which represent the fifth and sixth tiers of the country’s football pyramid, have voted to immediately end the 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, league organisers said yesterday.

General Secretary of the People’s Nation-al Congress Reform (PNCR), Amna Ally on Tuesday gifted a new butchery building to Jamal and  Latchmin Azeez.

Dear Editor, On Tuesday I visited big market, Stabroek Market, in Georgetown to purchase food items.

CASTRIES, St Lucia,  CMC – T20 specialist Chris Gayle will be suiting up for the St Lucia Zouks in the 2020 Caribbean Premier League (CPL), after being released by his home franchise, the Jamaica Tallawahs.

(Jamaica Star) Some Jamaicans who have been a part of the J-1 summer work and travel programme are considering themselves to be rather lucky as they have been receiving a slice of the US stimulus package (stimulus cheque).

A lone gunman, posing as a customer, yesterday morning held an employee of the Emperor Mineral Trading in Bartica at gunpoint before escaping with an estimated $2M worth in cash and raw gold.

Dear Editor, We hear often that Guyana has a wealth of commodities.

Orrin King, the man accused of chopping his ex-wife, Natoya Speede to death almost one month ago at the Bartica Airstrip was charged earlier this month with murder and remanded to prison.

(Reuters) – More states in the U.S. South and Midwest signaled readiness yesterday to reopen their economies in hopes the worst of the coronavirus pandemic had passed, but California’s governor held firm to sweeping stay-at-home orders and business closures.

Dear Editor, I recently perused two articles in the local press in relation to Brian Lara’s world record-breaking 375 and 400 not out test innings.

(Reuters) – Roger Federer called on Wednesday for a merger between the men’s ATP Tour and the WTA, which runs the women’s circuit, as tennis wades through a lengthy coronavirus shutdown with lower-level professionals in deep financial crisis.

DUBAI/WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Iran said yesterday it successfully launched the country’s first military satellite into orbit, triggering protests from the United States and stoking already high tensions over Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro warned yesterday that strict price controls on basic goods could return, as the coronavirus outbreak and an acute gasoline shortage prompt inflation to accelerate.

Local business process outsourcing (BPO) services have said that they have implemented measures as advised by the Public Health Ministry as they continue operations.

(Trinidad Guardian) It’s not only a time of fear and gloom, but also unwavering love.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – The time spent away from cricket felt like a “torture” but India opener Prithvi Shaw believes he returned hungrier after serving a doping ban last year.

Dear Editor, Since March 2nd we have been in unchartered waters in Guyana.

(Reuters) – The ousted director of a key U.S. agency charged with developing drugs to fight the coronavirus pandemic said yesterday he was dismissed because he called for careful vetting of a treatment frequently touted by President Donald Trump.

(Trinidad Express) University of the West Indies Cave Hill campus students in Barbados will not be allowed to return home.

A search is continuing for Ryan Pemberton called `Sancho’, the Alberttown businessman who is wanted by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) for allegedly threatening to kill ranks after they intercepted a quantity of cocaine on a fibre glass vessel at Parika, East Bank Essequibo two months ago.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – England’s cricketers would agree to be quarantined together in one location if it means they will be allowed to play matches after the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the season, all-rounder Chris Woakes said yesterday.

Dear Editor, There has been a lot said about the number of stations to complete the recount.

One of the iconic images of this pandemic period was captured on Sunday in Denver, Colorado in the US.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – President Donald Trump yesterday ordered a temporary block on some foreigners from permanent residence in the United States, saying he wanted to protect American workers and jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dear Editor, Guyana has failed to take its first tentative steps towards rebooting this stalled economy because of political and administrative inaction by GECOM and the de facto regime. 

SYDNEY,  (Reuters) – Australia has called on G20 nations to end wet wildlife markets over concerns they pose a threat to human health and agricultural markets, a move which could further strain ties with China after Canberra called for an international inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic.

By Josep Borrell Fontelles,  the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission  A few years ago, the European Union placed the concept of resilience at the centre of its Global and Security Strategy.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Staff furloughed by Cricket Australia during the coronavirus shutdown could work at supermarkets as part of the board’s efforts to find alternative employment for them, Chief Executive Kevin Roberts said yesterday.

Former American Ambassador-at-large, Professor Stephen Sestanovich can never forget his experiences at the Ukraine presidential elections in 2004.

The body of Ryan Khayum, the Charity farmer who went missing after a Guyana Defence Force (GDF) vessel collided with his on Monday night has been recovered.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Former national long jumper Nolle Graham has enlisted as a foot soldier in the battle against COVID-19 in New York, armed with scrubs, mask, and lots of heart in curtail the alarming outbreak of the new coronavirus.

(Jamaica Star) Jamaica’s intelligence outfits have reported to Prime Minister Andrew Holness that criminal organisations are planning to exploit the coronavirus crisis.