A recent survey of businesses in the territory provided information about more than 300 of the workers who have lost their jobs because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing …
April 24, 2020
April 24, 2020
Frontline workers prepare
With six Covid-19 cases now confirmed in the Virgin Islands and fears of community spread growing, health officials have been using the lockdown to gather resources for what promises to …
April 24, 2020
Visitors ‘stuck’ in British Virgin Islands
Because of the territory’s pandemic lockdown measures, many visitors have been “stuck” in the territory, Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration Minister Vincent Wheatley said last Thursday in the House of …
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April 24, 2020
EDITORIAL: Government must expand testing; fix and extend lockdown
Recent warning signs suggest that the Virgin Islands is now seeing local transmission of Covid-19, which could mean that the highly contagious disease is much more widespread here than previously …
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April 24, 2020
Testing rate lags in VI
Although the Virgin Islands has been testing residents for Covid-19 since the first case was confirmed on March 25, it has fallen behind some of its neighbours in the region, …
April 23, 2020
Food delivery systems are overwhelmed
On Monday night, Shereeza Bipat-Richards wrote on Facebook about the numerous social media posts she had seen about residents running out of food and other supplies, losing their jobs, and …
April 23, 2020
Virtual classes to start in May
Virgin Islands teachers are currently taking lessons of their own. Under the guidance of trainers with Kiker Learning, a Google-affiliated platform that instructs teachers in virtual education, primary school instructors …
April 23, 2020
Virgin Islands records first death of COVID-19 patient
On April 15, officials celebrated the territory’s relatively low number of Covid-19 cases and announced plans to reopen the territory starting this week. The same day, however, a 52-year-old Filipino …
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April 20, 2020
Cabinet okays ‘interim’ stimulus framework
The Cabinet has approved certain aspects of an economic stimulus programme designed to help the territory weather the coronavirus pandemic, and full details will be disclosed soon, Premier Andrew Fahie …
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April 19, 2020
Curfew extended 6 days, home deliveries continue
Following the death of a 52-year-old Filipino woman suspected to have Covid-19, government has extended the round-the-clock lockdown an additional six days to allow for “aggressive contact tracing,” Premier Andrew …
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April 18, 2020
Woman with suspected Covid-19 dies
A 52-year-old woman who tested positive locally for Covid-19 has died in the intensive care unit of the Dr. Orlando Smith Hospital, the Health Emergency Operations Centre announced at 11:53 …
April 17, 2020
‘After 10 days of symptoms, I tested negative for Covid-19’
Government officials announced the first two confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Virgin Islands on Wednesday, March 25, just as Beacon journalists were completing our final edits for that week’s …
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April 17, 2020
Amid pandemic, tourism stalls
Nearly two and a half years after Hurricane Irma, tourism in the Virgin Islands was back. Hotel rooms were full, cruise cabins were packed, charter yachts were booked solid. Then …
April 17, 2020
Paradise Hotel in Road Town serving as prison
Rooms at the Paradise Hotel, located above One Stop Mall on Waterfront Drive, are currently housing two people ordered by the court to be quarantined in light of the threat …
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April 16, 2020
United States seized and released medical supplies bound for Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands is now among a growing list of jurisdictions affected by United States President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to ban the export of certain medical equipment designed to …
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April 16, 2020
Jobless struggle as economy tanks: Social services, non-profits strained by demand
Tracy Farrer Myers is worried about paying her rent and utility bills next month after being laid off from her job as a bartender at Quito’s Gazebo. One of the …
April 16, 2020
Government to reopen economy taking a “phased approach”, keeping borders closed
As the current lockdown draws to a close and more Covid-19 test results have come back negative, the government is set to a begin a “phased reopening” of the territory’s …
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April 14, 2020
Residents get creative, stay social online
Christian MacDonald is showing residents how to build cocktails without professional equipment, and he’s doing it 100 percent remotely. “I decided that since there’s no work to be had, I …
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April 14, 2020
Extra load strains VI Internet
As internet traffic migrates from offices and schools to homes during the 14-day COVID-19 lockdown, the territory’s telecommunications providers have found themselves under increased strain in the face of customer …
April 14, 2020
Policing a pandemic
To keep the Virgin Islands safe in the coronavirus pandemic, police have tweaked some of their usual tactics and added new ones to help enforce the round-the-clock curfew that is …
April 10, 2020
Non-profit organisations scramble as need grows
In recent days, Family Support Network Executive Director Sasha Stout has seen firsthand the social fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. “I want to say I’m shocked, but I’m not,” Ms. …
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April 9, 2020
As stores swarmed, lockdown strategy debated
Crowds swarmed grocery stores and other businesses late last week to prepare for a 14-day lockdown in the territory, sparking heated criticism and raising questions about the government’s unusual system …
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April 9, 2020
Locked down for 14 days
Seventeen COVID-19 tests came back negative on Monday, which means the number of confirmed cases in the territory remains at three, but officials warned that the local danger from the …
April 7, 2020
Cultivating community online: YEP adapts to pandemic
Though the Youth Empowerment Programme has shut its doors as part of territory-wide efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus, it remains committed to the approximately 130 children enrolled in …
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April 7, 2020
From living area to classroom: How one mother teaches her daughter at home.
Astrid Jones always wanted to home-school her children. So when government ordered all Virgin Islands schools to close until at least April 20 to prevent the spread of the novel …
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