Health

Benta Schedules Hearing for Coronavirus Update on March 13; Blyden Calls for 'Immediate' Committee of the Whole Gathering

While the Senate Committee on Health, Hospitals, and Human Services, which is chaired by Senator Oakland Benta, has scheduled a March 13 hearing to receive updates from local health officials on the coronavirus — more than two weeks away — Senator Marvin Blyden has written a letter to Senate President Novelle Francis calling for an immediate Committee of the Whole hearing, a realization by the senator that the public needs to hear from leaders on preparations being made to combat a possible outbreak, and also to learn of precautionary steps health officials have been taking. "The tourism industry puts us at greater risk than many jurisdictions due to the high volume of daily visitor traffic from around the world. At the same time, our tourism industry is vulnerable to fears raised by the coronavirus, since travel is one of the first things to be curtailed in the face of a global pandemic", Mr. Blyden said. The coronavirus has now affected at least 44 countries, with Australia's prime...