Tag: Novel Coronavirus

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance stated that last week the Small Business Development Centre rolled out the Government’s $20 million COVID-19 response, targeted to provide loans to small businesses, ranging from $5,000 to $300,000. Approved loans will have a payment grace period of four months. Partnering financial institutions will facilitate the actual loan processing-- to include the vetting of the required information, the approvals, the issuing of funds, and the collection of payments after the four-month moratorium, DPM Turnquest explained as he announced an update on the Government’s stimulus measures in response to COVID-19 in the House of Assembly, Monday, March 30, 2020.

Due to forces entirely beyond their control, thousands of self-employed people who rely on the flow of cruise ship and stopover visitors, are now unable to make a living over the next few weeks Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. K. Peter Turnquest said. “As such, the Government has partnered with NIB to design a temporary programme that will provide weekly payments of $200 to persons who meet the eligibility criteria, for a period of up to eight weeks. That is, an eligible person can receive up to $1,600 over the 8-week period,” DPM Turnquest stated as he announced an update on the government’s stimulus measures in response to COVID-19 in the House of Assembly, Monday, March 30, 2020.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance announced that last week, the Department of Social Services, the National Insurance Board (NIB) and the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC), using the additional resources allocated by this government administration, rolled out social and economic support programmes. “This means, Bahamians are gaining access to much-needed food assistance and financial support to lessen the economic burden on their households,” DPM Turnquest said as he announced an update on the government’s stimulus measures in response to COVID-19 in the House of Assembly, Monday, March 30, 2020.

Regional bank CIBC FirstCaribbean is moving to assist countries across the region to purchase much-needed COVID–19 testing kits. The bank, through its charitable arm the FirstCaribbean International ComTrust Foundation, will donate a total of USD$250,000 toward the purchase of the kits in the countries across its regional footprint. The bank will make the donation through its various operating companies across the Caribbean, including The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands.

Prime Minister the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis today in a live update on COVID-19 announced three more confirmed cases of the virus and plans to extend the state of emergency until 8 April. This brings to 14 the total number of COVID-19 cases confirmed to date. Two have been confirmed in Grand Bahama and the remaining cases are on N.P. Two of the COVID-positive individuals have been admitted to Doctor’s Hospital, Blake Road. All other cases are doing well, said Prime Minister Minnis. “We have seen a doubling of confirmed cases over the last four days. We anticipate more cases in a short period of time over the coming 20 days,” said the Prime Minister. “This means we must increase our efforts to restrict the spread of this virus and to save lives.”