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Cases of Omicron variant confirmed in St Kitts and Nevis – CMO

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St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN) – The Ministry of Health said the first cases of the COVID-19 Omicron Variant have been confirmed in St. Kitts and Nevis.

Three COVID-19 test samples were sent off for genomic sequencing to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and confirmed the existence of the variant.

“Two of the three samples returned positive for the omicron variant of concern.,” said the Chief Medical Officer Dr Hazel Laws during a special COVID-19 press briefing on December 30.

“When we look at the data pertaining to these two samples, the two cases, we have objective evidence that the Omicron variant is in circulation in the federation currently.”

The CMO also officially announced the start of the fourth wave of COVID-19 transmission in the Federation with Lambda and Omicron being the two variants in circulation.

In two weeks, St. Kitts and Nevis moved from 15 to 106 active cases.

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According to health officials, Omicron is more transmissible than other variants but less severe than Delta which had a high mortality rate when it became the dominant strain globally.

Dr Laws urged those eligible to get the booster shot and emphasised the need for continued adherence to the non-pharmaceutical means of preventing spread.

In the United States, the primary tourism source market for St. Kitts and Nevis, Omicron, officially became the dominant strain in circulation as of Thursday (December 30).

As 2021 comes to a close and Omicron threatens many countries Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) reflects on the second year of the COVID-19  Pandemic.

In 2020 there were 1.8 million deaths worldwide related to COVID-19,  those numbers increased to 3.5 million recorded deaths for 2021, and the WHO’s officials believe the actual number is higher.

Dr Ghebreyesus, in a featured video from the WHO, believes that 2022, the third year, will be the last year of the Pandemic.

When the Director-General references 2022 as the last year of the pandemic, he means ending the acute phase of the pandemic where healthcare systems are overwhelmed, and people are dying from the virus.

Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme, says the goal is for COVID-19 to reach a level of low transmission as he expects the virus to remain in circulation going forward.

On Thursday (December 30), it was announced that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel advisory to people in the US to avoid cruise travel regardless of vaccination status due to the 92 cruises that had outbreaks of the virus on board.

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REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL SELECTION)

 

OECS MSME Guarantee Facility Project

Loan No.: IDA-62670, IDA-62660, IDA-62640, IBRD-88830, IDA-62650

Assignment Title: Senior Operating Officer (SOO)

Reference No. KN-ECPCGC-207852-CS-INDV

 

The Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have received financing in the amount of US$10 million equivalent from the World Bank towards the cost of establishing a partial credit guarantee scheme, and they intend to apply part of the proceeds to payments for goods, and consulting services to be procured under this project. 

The consultant will serve as the “Senior Operating Officer (SOO)” for the ECPCGC and should possess extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to Micro, small and medium-sized businesses, knowledge of the internal control processes necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk mitigation procedures. The ideal candidate should possess an Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Accounting, Banking or related field, with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in lending, inclusive of MSME lending. The initial employment period will be for two years on a contractual basis. Renewal of the contract will be subject to a performance evaluation at the end of the contractual period. The assignment is expected to begin on September 30th, 2021.  The consultant will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of the ECPCGC.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be viewed by following the attached link below. 

 

https://bit.ly/3iVannm

 

The Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECPCGC) now invites eligible “Consultants” to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have:

  • An Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Finance, Banking or related field; and
  • Minimum of 5 years’ experience in MSME lending. Applicants should also have:
  • The ability to design and implement risk management procedures 
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to small and medium-sized businesses
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME banking operations
  • Knowledge of the internal controls necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk management procedures
  • Experience developing and presenting information in public, including responding to questions in real-time
  • Experience lending to MSMEs located in the ECCU
  • Knowledge of marketing and communicating with the MSME sector
  • Ability to draft procedures to be used in a lending operation
  • Familiarity with the mechanics of a loan guarantee program
  • Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills, and
  • Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office suite.

The attention of interested Individual Consultants is drawn to Section III, Paragraphs 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers July 2016, [revised November 2017] (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Approved Selection Method for Individual Consultants set out in the clause 7.34 of the World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers. 

 

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0800 to 1700 hours:

Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation

Brid Rock, Basseterre,

St. Kitts.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form by e-mail by August 11th, 2021, to [email protected]

 

For further information, please contact:

Carmen Gomez-Trigg                                                            Bernard Thomas

Chief Executive Officer                                                          Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 868-620-8144                                                                  Tel: 869-765-2385

Email: [email protected]                                          [email protected]