CHRISTIANSTED — During the weekly Government House briefing this afternoon, Health Commissioner Justa Encarnacion said the department has confirmed the Omicron variant BA.4 and has preliminary findings of the presence of the BA.5 variant. “We expect that this variant, like all subvariants, will eventually circulate in the community as COVID-19 remains endemic,” Commissioner Encarnacion said. “Therefore […]
Category: Health News
USVI Gets $50M for the Restoration of the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute
CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Office of Disaster Recovery announces that after extensive negotiations, FEMA has awarded the Territory $50 million to reconstruct the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute, signaling a clear path forward to reestablishing cancer treatment in the territory. In June 2021, FEMA approved the full replacement of the facility. Almost one year later, this obligation […]
AG Denise George Issues Statement on the Impact of the United States Supreme Court Decision on Local Abortion Law
CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Attorney General’s Office said it has received numerous calls and inquiries after yesterday’s United States Supreme Court ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This case overturned th e cases of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. These two cases determined that a women had […]
Governors Urge Quick Action On The Bipartisan Keep Kids Fed Act
WASHINGTON — National Governors Association’s Community Renewal Task Force Co-Chairs Governors Mike Parson and Albert Bryan, Jr. released the following statement on the bipartisan Keep Kids Fed Act. The act was introduced by Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) and House Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and […]
Human Services Offices Closed Half Day for Staff Training On Friday
CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Commissioner Kimberley Causey-Gomez said that all DHS offices will be closed on Friday, 24 June 2022 from 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. for a mandatory ESF6 Mass Care Disaster and Emergencies Training. All residential facilities and 24/7 emergency services will maintain normal operations. For more information, please visit the Department of Human Services […]
Finance Is Distributing 8,000+ Income Tax Refunds For 2020 Tax Returns
CHRISTIANSTED — During the weekly Government House briefing this afternoon, Communications Director Richard Motta Jr. announced that Virgin Islanders who filed their 2020 tax returns on time and did not have any issues with their returns have begun receiving their tax refunds for that tax year. According to Director Motta, 5,152 checks going out last week […]
Legislature Welcomes The Public To View Its Operations With New COVID-19 Protocols
CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Senate President Donna Frett-Gregory said that the Legislature of the Virgin Islands re-opened to the public effective on Monday, June 20, 2022. This change is announced as part of the Legislature’s updated COVID-19 protocols to align with the endemicity stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The updated protocols includes the following updates: • […]
NEED HEALTH INSURANCE?
LEARN MORE BY JOINING THE FREE ZOOM WEBINAR WEDNESDAY AT 1PM WEDNESDAY JUNE 22 REGISTER NOW: vipca.org/insurance In February 2022, health insurance coverage was extended to shore-based active members of Virgin Islands Professional Charter Association (VIPCA). This health insurance program is underwritten by CIGNA and managed by the insurance specialist at Gowrie Group. To access this […]
Bryan Says COVID State of Emergency Ends June 30 By Executive Order
CHRISTIANSTED — Governor Albert Bryan has issued a proclamation extending the current COVID-19 Health State of Emergency from June 9-30 to enable an orderly winding down of the COVID Pandemic Emergency. During the transition State of Emergency continuing through June 30, all standing clauses of the 35th Supplemental Executive Order, as amended by the 36th through 38th executive […]
Bryan Tells Residents and Visitors COVID-19 Travel Portal No Longer In Effect Tomorrow
CHRISTIANSTED — During today’s weekly Government House briefing, Governor Albert Bryan reminded residents and visitors that, effective Wednesday, June 1, 2022, the USVI COVID-19 screening TravelPortal will cease to operate. “As you may know, we are transitioning our response to COVID-19 from pandemic to endemic. What this means, in short, is that we are at […]