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Here’s why this week is most important in Antigua and Barbuda’s COVID-19 fight

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If there are no new COVID-19 cases this week, local authorities may be able to declare Antigua and Barbuda COVID-free, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has declared.

“I say may, because sufficient time would have passed for [the two known individuals with COVID-19] to literally shred the virus,” Browne said Saturday on Pointe FM’s Browne & Browne show.

“I suspect that by this week they would be tested again and that those two individuals should be COVID-free, which means this week we should be able to declare Antigua and Barbuda COVID-free, barring no new cases.”

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases remains at 25, of which 19 have recovered, three have died, and one returned to the United Kingdom.

There are only two known individuals in Antigua and Barbuda who may be positive for COVID-19 at this time, Browne said.

Prime Minister Browne said he is aware there may be some individuals who would argue “how would you know that, in the sense that we need to ramp up our testing and that there may well be carriers of COVID who may be asymptomatic.” 

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Country will ramp up testing this week

“Indeed, we will ramp up our testing,” Browne assured. 

“In fact I’m pleased to confirm that our testing facilities are now operational, that testing would have started last week and went very well.”

He explained that the lab technicians have been testing known COVID cases using known samples from existing individuals who tested for COVID.

Those ‘training’ tests were done under the supervision of a representative from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the findings from those tests would have been consistent with the known results.

“So, those individuals who have tested positive who were tested by our domestic lab technicians were proven to be positive and those who were negative were proven to be negative. So, they tested against known samples,” Browne said.

“What they will be doing from Monday, they will now be testing new cases of COVID, so new individuals will be swabbed this week. The swabs or part of the culture that is taken from the individual will be utilized here for domestic testing, and the other part of it will be sent to CARPHA, because the local lab has to go through a process of validation with CARPHA, and you will find, for example, for the next week that they have to ensure that there is a verification between our results and that of CARPHA. So, our positive tests should correlate with the positive tests of CARPHA. If there is any variation then clearly there’s something wrong. 

“By the following week we hope that the lab will be able to test independently of CARPHA and be able to do its own tests, having gone through all of the necessary validations,” the prime minister added.

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2 responses to “Here’s why this week is most important in Antigua and Barbuda’s COVID-19 fight”

  1. Do y’all remember a movie called friday, next friday, friday after next, well testing in Antigua is a sequel!!!.
    Mr brown isnt verse on virus science, so why is he commenting? Why is he forever trying to push the script?
    People make sense outta nonsense. Its simple math. No test+ No virus confirmed = Welcome tourists.
    Did any of you see our local movie on the television earlier? yep, when you play warri with God…..

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]