An optimistic look back on 2022 might conjure a year-end image of the Virgin Islands as a phoenix preparing to rise from the ashes of its former self. And after …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: The highs, lows and lessons of 2022”
December 23, 2022
December 6, 2022
930 take part in health training
Ahead of the holiday season, the Virgin Islands is preparing to join a regional programme that aims to set standards for public health management in the tourism sector across the …
December 1, 2022
Tourism booms as Covid ebbs
The tourism season started barely two weeks ago, but business is already booming at Foxy’s Tamarind Bar on Jost Van Dyke. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen a season like …
October 28, 2022
Government mask policy to end November 1
Starting on Nov. 1, public officers will no longer be required to wear masks in offices, Deputy Governor David Archer announced last Thursday. Cabinet lifted the legal requirement to wear …
September 2, 2022
Virgin Islands had 23 Covid cases as of Monday
As of Monday, there were 23 active Covid-19 cases known in the territory, according to a government dashboard released that day. Before that, government said in its most recent update …
Continue reading “Virgin Islands had 23 Covid cases as of Monday”
August 26, 2022
Virgin Islands to host vaccine drive
A vaccination drive will be held on Saturday and Sunday and again next weekend at the Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital, the BVI Health Services Authority announced on Friday. “The …
July 22, 2022
Virgin Islands drops entry test requirement
Travellers arriving in the territory are no longer required to present a negative Covid-19 test result to enter the Virgin Islands, government announced. The entry test requirement was in place …
Continue reading “Virgin Islands drops entry test requirement”
June 22, 2022
Mask mandate extended in public offices, schools
Less than a week after Cabinet lifted the territory’s indoor mask mandate, government announced that the requirement would be reinstated for public offices and schools. “For the next three to …
Continue reading “Mask mandate extended in public offices, schools”
June 16, 2022
Masks no longer required indoors
As of yesterday, people in the territory are no longer required to wear masks indoors or apply through the travel portal to enter the territory, Health and Social Development Minister …
June 10, 2022
Another Covid death recorded
The territory has recorded another Covid-19-related death, according to the government’s latest Covid-19 dashboard update issued last Thursday. As of that day, the death toll from the pandemic was 63, …
June 6, 2022
Pier park grants $1.6m in rent concessions
More than $1.6 million in rent concessions were granted to about 70 tenants at the Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park between April 2020 and February 2021 to offset their …
Continue reading “Pier park grants $1.6m in rent concessions”
June 2, 2022
Covid cases still dropping
The number of active Covid-19 cases in the territory continues to drop, according to the latest numbers published by government. As of Friday, there were 111 active cases, down from …
May 27, 2022
Tourism numbers continue to climb
Overnight tourist arrivals in the first two months of 2022 soared in comparison to the same period in 2021, with the 26,225 visitors representing the Virgin Islands’ slow climb to …
May 26, 2022
Covid cases down a little
The number of known active Covid-19 cases in the territory dropped from 155 on May 13 to 132 last Thursday, according to the most recent numbers published on the government’s …
May 20, 2022
Covid cases climb to 155
Active Covid-19 cases continued to rise from subvariants of omicron in recent days, but Virgin Islands officials remained optimistic, saying that most of the new cases are mild and herd …
May 6, 2022
Active Covid cases hit 103 last week
There were 103 active Covid-19 cases throughout the territory as of last Thursday, according to the government’s most recent update. Numbers from the Covid-19 dashboard released that day show that …
April 28, 2022
Covid-19 cases spike to 95
After more than four weeks with fewer than 20 active Covid-19 cases reported in the territory, government announced April 21 that there were 95 active cases — up from 19 …
April 22, 2022
Virgin Islands government lifts outdoor mask mandate
The day before the Easter weekend, government eased its Covid-19 protocols, removing the requirement to wear masks outdoors and lifting certain social distancing rules. Also under the relaxed regime, no …
Continue reading “Virgin Islands government lifts outdoor mask mandate”
April 15, 2022
Covid-19 cases up to 19
As of last Thursday, the territory had 19 known active Covid-19 cases, all of which were found on Tortola. Of those, four were found through entry screening on day seven, …
April 8, 2022
Covid cases down to 14 as of Friday
As of Friday, there were 14 known Covid-19 cases in the territory, according to government’s most recent Covid-19 dashboard. The number marks a slight decrease since the previous report, when …
April 1, 2022
Restrictions remain as Covid eases
Government’s most recent Covid-19 update on March 23 reported a total of 16 active cases in the territory with no one hospitalised. The number was up slightly from March 18, …
March 17, 2022
Covid cases drop to 13 on Friday
The number of active Covid-19 cases in the territory dropped to 13 as of Friday, according to numbers published that day by government’s Covid-19 dashboard. Eleven of the cases were …
March 10, 2022
Covid cases drop to 23
Government reported 23 active cases of Covid-19 in its most re- cent update on March 2, marking a record low for the year as the world nears the second anniversary …
February 24, 2022
Vaccine now available for kids ages 5 to 11
As Covid-19 cases fall rapidly since the omicron spike that started in December, a shipment of 500 paediatric doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is now available for ages 5 to …
Continue reading “Vaccine now available for kids ages 5 to 11”
February 11, 2022
Prison superintendent continues to ignore questions about Covid outbreak while government and health officials decline to comment
In a Jan. 27 interview with the Beacon, Governor John Rankin confirmed that there was a Covid-19 outbreak at Her Majesty’s Prison, saying he was “very concerned” about the situation …
