News Briefs

T&T records seven COVID-19 deaths in a day

PORT-OF-SPAIN (CMC):

Trinidad and Tobago is to see new measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 after recording its highest number of deaths linked to the coronavirus on Friday.

The Ministry of Health said on Friday night that the death toll had reached 50, after seven cases were recorded in the preceding 24 hours.

It said that the latest deaths were among people with underlying medical conditions and that 2,825 persons had now tested positive for the virus with 2,013 being active cases.

Among the victims is 45-year-old businessman Cedric Burke, whose relatives have already indicated that they intend to petition the High Court to have an independent autopsy confirm his cause of death.

The Ministry of Health has in the past stopped autopsies for anyone who died from virus as it is against best practices since it is believed that the virus can spread from a deceased host. The bodies are also disposed of quickly as part of the best practice.

American Claver-Carone elected IDB president

American Mauricio Claver-Carone has been elected unopposed as president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), replacing Luis Alberto Moreno for a five-year term.

Guyana and Haiti were the only two CARICOM countries to nominate Claver-Carone, who is also the senior director of the Western Hemisphere Affairs Directorate of the US National Security Council.

Claver-Carone, who will take office on October 1, 2020, is to oversee the operations of the IDB Group, which comprises the IDB, IDB Invest and IDB Lab.