PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis on Friday stood by his call for businesses to implement a testing regime for employees who do not get the COVID-19 vaccine.

During a contract signing for the government's purchase of the Grand Bahama International Airport on Thursday, Dr Minnis encouraged employers to have their unvaccinated employees "take a COVID test, PCR test, weekly so as to not jeopardize the remainder of (their) employees."

The comment sparked feedback from the public given that RT-PCR tests typically cost more than $100 per test.

Asked in Eleuthera on Friday about his comments, Dr Minnis reiterated his view but did not specify that employers should demand a weekly PCR test.

"You should encourage individuals to vaccinate," he said. "It is established that if in the environment or the workplace those individuals are vaccinated, then if one individual in that environment is not vaccinated, you would not have to close your business (after there is exposure) because the remainder are protected. For those who have refused for whatever reason to not be vaccinated then there should be some form of test that they should do to ensure that the environment is safe."

Dr Minnis sidestepped questions about House Speaker Halson Moultrie, who abruptly adjourned House proceedings on Wednesday after accusing the executive of ignoring the authority of Parliament.

"The Cabinet Office seems to think that it controls Parliament," Speaker Moultrie said, adding: “Now, I don’t necessarily pick fights or wars, but if you want a war, you can get a war. They say if you don’t want a war, don’t start one. So don’t come in this Parliament talking about reading books of war because more than one person in this Parliament reads books of war."

In his first public comments about Speaker Moultrie's remarks, Dr Minnis avoided addressing the matter directly.

"I didn't even think about it," he said. "I'm more concerned with getting vaccinations out to the general population. I'm more concerned with saving lives. I'm more concerned with getting our economy back and having our population working."

Dr Minnis visited Eleuthera on Friday to open a new Passport Office in Governor's Harbour.

"Eleuthera residents should not be disadvantaged in any way because you reside outside our larger urban centres," he said. "You should not have to endure the inconvenience and unnecessary costs associated with travelling to New Providence to apply for and collect your passports. Passports are essential as travel documents and proof of citizenship and identification. These documents should be available to you where you live."

MORE THAN 1,100 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the country this month alone, representing a tremendous spike when compared with the previous month.

As of April 28, the most recent data up to press time by the Ministry of Health showed that there were 1,133 cases in April.

The number also reflects the 86 new cases added to the overall count when official revealed on April 24 that due to continuous data cleansing of the COVID-19 database and collaboration with reporting laboratories additional cases were added to the total.

The confirmed COVID-19 cases not previously reported for New Providence (32) were orginally tested between January and mid-April, 2021, and the confirmed cases for Grand Bahama (54) were orginally tested between September-December, 2020.

The previous month, March, saw 440, new cases.

Currently, the overall number of cases in the country is 10,389 with 53 in hospital. Three of these cases are in the Intensive Care Unit.

The death toll stands at 198, the latest casualty a man from Bimini. He died on April 25.

A local infectious diseases expert earlier this week again urged Bahamians to not let their guards down and become relaxed with current health protocols, insisting that the country’s fight with the novel coronavirus is far from over.

Director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme at the Ministry of Health, Dr Nikkiah Forbes’ comments came after organisers of an event held over the weekend were cited nearly $100,000 for breaching COVID-19 orders.

Several videos of the event were widely circulated on social media, showing hundreds of people closely huddled together, with many seen not wearing masks while partying.

“We continue to see an increase in hospitalisations and we are challenged because of staff shortages because we have had a number of persons that have retired from the healthcare field and so that has caused some strain as it relates to staffing,” Dr Forbes told The Tribune recently.

“We are not at full bed capacity, but we don’t want to get there and…to prevent COVID from spreading, we do need the public health measures to be followed and we all have to follow the public health measures and if there are gatherings, they can become super spreader events and they themselves can worsen the outbreak.

“So, in order to beat COVID, we all have to follow the public health measures, we need a robust vaccination programme that vaccinates many people as soon as possible and we need a robust strong public response to identify cases, put them in isolation to stop the spread, do contact tracing and put the contacts in quarantine and do follow up testing.”

Chief Superintendent Zhivago Dames, officer-in-charge of the COVID Enforcement Unit, said large social gatherings continue to be a cause of concern for officials.

Prime Minister the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis opened another satellite passport office on Friday 30 April as part of the Government’s investment in services and infrastructure throughout the Family Islands.

The newest Passport Office, located in Governor’s Harbour, is the fourth to be opened across the Family Islands in the last two months.

Other offices were recently opened on the islands of Exuma, Inagua and Long Island. “We believe in investing in infrastructure and services across the archipelago, creating environments that foster business and commercial activity,” said Prime Minister Minnis at the official opening ceremony for the new office.

“Our goal is to help improve the quality of life in all of our islands. An important part of the Government’s investment in strengthening these communities is to ensure Government services are readily available.”

The new Passport Office offers full passport services, including processing renewal of expired passports, enrollment of first-time applicants and biometric fingerprinting.

The turnaround time for receipt of passports is between five and seven days. Since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched the satellite initiative two months ago, 43 passports have been issued in Inagua; 209 passports in Exuma; and 42 passports in Long Island, said the Prime Minister.

The Passport Office will also continue to deploy its Mobile Team to areas that have smaller populations that are not served by local offices.

Earlier this year, residents of various islands were enrolled via the Mobile Team.

The Passport Office is presently considering requests from Bimini and Andros. “My Government will continue efforts to diversify and decentralize our economy,” said Prime Minister Minnis. “Our Family Islands are well poised for development.” The Prime Minister noted that new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations have increased in The Bahamas in recent weeks.

He reminded residents that the pandemic is not over and stressed the importance of continuing to abide by the public health measures and Emergency Orders.

Prime Minister Minnis urged residents to get vaccinated. “[COVID-19] vaccines are available to all Bahamians and permanent residents 18 years and older,” said the Prime Minister.

“We need as many people as possible vaccinated in order to get out of the emergency phase of the pandemic and return to normal lives.”

Bahamian DeAndre Ayton was 11 years old and still living in The Bahamas when the Phoenix Suns (44-18) last went to the National Basketball Association (NBA) postseason, but now at 22 and the starting center for the Suns, he has helped that franchise end that 11-year drought. The Suns took down a key Western Conference rival, the Los Angeles Clippers (43-21), 109-101, at the Phoenix Suns Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday night, booking their tickets for the playoffs.

Ayton finished the night with five points and a game-high 11 boards. It was a shooting night that the Bahamian may want to forget as he went 2-for-8 from the field and split a pair of free throws. However, the playoff-clinching victory is what matters for the Bahamian and the Suns right now. He added two assists and two steals in the 27 minutes he had on the floor. The last time the Suns made the playoffs was 2010 when they had Steve Nash as their point guard and Amar’e Stoudemire as one of the starting forwards. Nash is now the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets and Stoudemire is his player development assistant. It was the second-longest active playoff drought in the league and also tied for the fifth longest all-time in the league. The Sacramento Kings, for which fellow Bahamian Chavano “Buddy” Hield plays, own the longest playoff drought of 14 seasons.  The win for the Suns on Wednesday night marked the first time for the season that they were able to defeat the Clippers. They lost the season series two games to one – a series which had its share of chippiness, hard fouls, technical fouls, flagrant fouls and even ejections. A playoffs series between these two teams could provide must-watch television quality for the league. Both of Ayton’s made field goals came in the first quarter. His first shot came at the 6:29 mark when he made a putback layup to put his team up 17-13. His second shot came 23 seconds later when he converted a cutting layup that gave his team a 19-16 lead. The Suns led 39-31 at the end of the first quarter, fighting off a 15-point scoring onslaught from Paul George who torched them in their previous two matchups. Ayton was active in that quarter with four points, four rebounds and a steal. The Suns had their biggest lead of the game, 14 points, in the second quarter, taking a 53-39 lead on a Mikal Bridges’ three-point play with 7:17 remaining. At the end of that quarter, the Suns held a 10-point lead, 63-53. The Clippers came within four points at the 1:05 mark of the third quarter, 82-78. The Suns ended the quarter up 86-80, paving the way for a dramatic fourth quarter. Third-year player Ayton did not attempt a shot in the fourth quarter but pulled down four rebounds and had a plus-minus stat line of plus-10 in that quarter. The Clippers got to within one point twice in the quarter – the final one coming at the 6:08 mark with the Suns ahead 93-92. That lead quickly grew to seven points with the Suns taking a 101-94 lead with 3:31 remaining in the game. Chris Paul scored all eight of those points by himself during that stretch for the Suns. He had 15 in the quarter. It was the knockout punch that the Suns needed as the Clippers, who never led in the game, had no answer. The Suns outrebounded the Clippers 45-36 including a 15-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The Suns had 15 second chance points compared to 10 for the Clippers.

Bahamian DeAndre Ayton was 11 years old and still living in The Bahamas when the Phoenix Suns (44-18) last went to the National Basketball Association (NBA) postseason, but now at 22 and the starting center for the Suns, he has helped that franchise end that 11-year drought. The Suns took down a key Western Conference rival, the Los Angeles Clippers (43-21), 109-101, at the Phoenix Suns Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday night, booking their tickets for the playoffs.

Ayton finished the night with five points and a game-high 11 boards. It was a shooting night that the Bahamian may want to forget as he went 2-for-8 from the field and split a pair of free throws. However, the playoff-clinching victory is what matters for the Bahamian and the Suns right now. He added two assists and two steals in the 27 minutes he had on the floor.

The last time the Suns made the playoffs was 2010 when they had Steve Nash as their point guard and Amar’e Stoudemire as one of the starting forwards. Nash is now the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets and Stoudemire is his player development assistant. It was the second-longest active playoff drought in the league and also tied for the fifth longest all-time in the league. The Sacramento Kings, for which fellow Bahamian Chavano “Buddy” Hield plays, own the longest playoff drought of 14 seasons. 

The win for the Suns on Wednesday night marked the first time for the season that they were able to defeat the Clippers. They lost the season series two games to one – a series which had its share of chippiness, hard fouls, technical fouls, flagrant fouls and even ejections. A playoffs series between these two teams could provide must-watch television quality for the league.

Both of Ayton’s made field goals came in the first quarter. His first shot came at the 6:29 mark when he made a putback layup to put his team up 17-13. His second shot came 23 seconds later when he converted a cutting layup that gave his team a 19-16 lead.

The Suns led 39-31 at the end of the first quarter, fighting off a 15-point scoring onslaught from Paul George who torched them in their previous two matchups. Ayton was active in that quarter with four points, four rebounds and a steal.

The Suns had their biggest lead of the game, 14 points, in the second quarter, taking a 53-39 lead on a Mikal Bridges’ three-point play with 7:17 remaining. At the end of that quarter, the Suns held a 10-point lead, 63-53.

The Clippers came within four points at the 1:05 mark of the third quarter, 82-78. The Suns ended the quarter up 86-80, paving the way for a dramatic fourth quarter.

Third-year player Ayton did not attempt a shot in the fourth quarter but pulled down four rebounds and had a plus-minus stat line of plus-10 in that quarter. The Clippers got to within one point twice in the quarter – the final one coming at the 6:08 mark with the Suns ahead 93-92.

That lead quickly grew to seven points with the Suns taking a 101-94 lead with 3:31 remaining in the game. Chris Paul scored all eight of those points by himself during that stretch for the Suns. He had 15 in the quarter. It was the knockout punch that the Suns needed as the Clippers, who never led in the game, had no answer.

The Suns outrebounded the Clippers 45-36 including a 15-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The Suns had 15 second chance points compared to 10 for the Clippers.