Travel News

This round of draw is the third instance where Canada issued 4,500 invitations at a time, the largest number of invitations issued in a single draw.

The Canadian Government in its latest draw held in November has invited 4,500 fresh express entry candidates to apply for permanent residency. This was contained in the Canadian immigration newsletter recently released.

This round of draw is the third instance where Canada issued 4,500 invitations at a time, the largest number of invitations issued in a single draw.

The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CSR) score for this draw was 478, seven points higher than 471 points, recorded in the last draw held in October.

READ: Application for Canadian Permanent Residency hits 63,400

READ: #EndSARS: NSE lost N113 billion Market Capitalization on Wednesday, October 21

According to the report, the highest-scoring candidates received an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence in the Express Entry invitation round. In this round, Canada invited the top 4,500 candidates to apply for permanent residence.

In case of a tie between candidates, IRCC applied the tie-breaking rule. So, for this draw, candidates who had a CRS score of 478 or more, needed to have submitted their Express Entry profile before October 26, 2020 at 22:44:19 UTC in order to receive an invitation.

Meanwhile, the new draw brings the total number of ITAs issued in 2020 to 87,350. This year is shaping up to be a new record-breaking year for Express Entry, as the number of ITAs issued to date is the highest it has ever been.

How it works

Express Entry is the application system that manages the pool of candidates for Canada’s three main economic immigration classes — the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC), and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

A set number of the highest-ranked candidates are invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence through regular draws (usually bi-weekly) from the pool. These invitation rounds typically involve candidates from all three Express Entry-managed categories.

Candidates are ranked based on a score awarded under the CRS, which considers factors such as age, education, skilled work experience, and proficiency in English or French.

What you need to know

• In a recent report, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that French-speaking candidates now get additional points for their language skills, up from an initial 15 points while bilingual candidates will now get 50 points compared to an initial 30 points.
• These regular draws and invitations show the Commitment of the Canadian Government to receive more immigrants as Canada announced in October its multi-year immigration levels plan. In the report, Canada promised to welcome over 400,000 permanent residents every year until 2023.
• It also stated that more than 100,000 of these new immigrants will come in through Express Entry-managed programs in the Federal High Skilled category.
• Canada recorded a slower unemployment rate in October from 9% recorded in September to 8.9% as fresh 84,000 jobs were added in the month. This is a great improvement as the country looks to recover from the COVID-19 induced restrictions that took away over 3 million jobs earlier in the year.

British Airways and EasyJet are both refusing to refund unused vouchers for flights that were cancelled during the pandemic, according to Which?.

The consumer champion accused the two major British airlines of ignoring EU guidance, which stipulates that airlines should automatically refund any unused vouchers 14 days after they expire.

However, the guidance, issued by the European Commission back in May, is just that – guidance, rather than legally binding.

While other airlines, including Ryanair, have made it clear that vouchers can be exchanged for a full refund at any time, BA and easyJet have not given customers this option.

It means passengers who accepted a voucher early in the pandemic could end up left out of pocket if they don’t manage to use their voucher before it expires.

Under normal circumstances, if an EU airline or airline flying from an EU country cancels a commercial flight, it has a responsibility to issue customers with a cash refund within seven days of the cancellation.

However, when the coronavirus pandemic grounded the majority of services worldwide, airlines struggled to meet the consumer protection laws laid out in EU Regulation 261.

In many cases, customers were strongly encouraged to accept a credit voucher they could exchange for a future flight, rather than a refund. For example, back in April, while BA’s credit vouchers were easily obtained via an online form, customers had to call up the airline and endure lengthy hold times in order to claim a cash refund.

EasyJet also initially removed the automatic refund option from its website in a bid to persuade passengers to take vouchers for future travel instead. Like British Airways, it insisted passengers phone the airline to get a refund. The carrier later restored the option to claim a cash refund online.

Some BA passengers complained to Which? that they automatically received vouchers for cancelled flights, even though they thought they had applied for refunds through the website’s ‘Manage my booking’ page.

BA insists its claims process is clear and transparent.

In other cases, passengers say they voluntarily took a voucher to help out their airline.

But many travellers who took this option have struggled to use vouchers, given global travel restrictions and the UK’s own tumultuous travel corridors policy that has changed on a weekly basis since it was first introduced over the summer.

BA has extended the expiration date on refund vouchers; they can be used to book a flight up until April 2022.

“We do not auto-issue vouchers, they can only be issued when a customer has requested them by filling out the form,” a British Airways spokesperson told The Independent. “Our website is clear that when filling out the form it is to apply for vouchers. Our vouchers are valid for use until April 2022.

“Customers are always entitled to a cash refund if their flight has been cancelled, which is clearly displayed on our website. Customers have up to a year after their flight was due to operate to get in touch with us for a cash refund – and we have processed more than 2.5 million cash refunds to date.”

EasyJet’s vouchers are only valid for a year, and the airline says it would only swap vouchers for cash in “exceptional circumstances as a gesture of goodwill”.

However, while a voucher needs to be used to rebook within 12 months, dates of travel can be after the voucher expiry date for any flight currently on sale.

“Where a flight is cancelled, customers are notified in advance and informed of the options they can choose from which – as well as a voucher for the whole value of the booking – includes transferring their flights free of charge or a refund for the full value of the booking, even if just one leg of their trip is cancelled,” said an easyJet spokesperson.

“If a customer chooses a flight voucher this can be used to make a booking up to 12 months after the voucher has been issued and the booking can be for travel beyond the voucher expiry date for any flights currently on sale. Flights are currently available to book up until 30 September 2021 and we have been bringing our on-sale dates forward to provide customers with more choice to rebook their trip in the future.

“In the event their new booking is impacted by any changes in travel restrictions, customers would be provided with further options to rebook.”

Which? called on the government to extend the powers of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the aviation regulator, so that it is able to bring airlines into line when they are found to be giving misleading information on refunds.

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “As we head into a winter that is bound to bring more flight cancellations, it’s extremely concerning to see the UK’s biggest airlines disregarding European guidance and letting their passengers down when it comes to their refund rights.

“BA and Easyjet must immediately make it clear that passengers will not face losing their money if they are unable to use a voucher, while all airlines should be offering cash refunds to passengers prevented from travelling by lockdown laws.

“Major airlines have acted shamefully and without fear of consequences during this pandemic – the government must urgently review the CAA’s powers as part of its aviation recovery plan to ensure passengers have a regulator that can effectively stand up for them.”  

BY  Helen Coffey

British Airways and Lufthansa have become the first two airlines in the world to be given a Covid-19 safety rating.

Skytrax, which rates airlines and airports around the globe according to strict criteria, has now introduced a new branch, the Covid-19 Airline Safety Ratings, which analyses carriers’ policies when it comes to stopping the spread of coronavirus.

Both airlines received a four-star rating (out of a potential five stars).  

They were assessed on the effectiveness and consistency of the hygiene and safety measures they’ve put in place and potential risk to passengers across the airport and cabin environment.

BA’s rating was based on its operations at Heathrow Terminal Five, while Lufthansa was judged on flights from Terminal 1 at Frankfurt Airport.

To attain four stars, an airline must achieve a high standard of cleanliness onboard its aircraft, using techniques such as UV sanitisation and mass disinfectant treatments.  

Onboard catering should be adapted too, with reduced contact delivery and enhanced food safety measures.

In the airport areas manned by the airline, contactless technology and enforcement of social distancing during check-in, boarding and on arrival are rewarded by the ratings scheme.

As part of its audit, Skytrax uses ATP testing – a process of rapidly measuring actively growing microorganisms – to measure contamination on high-touch surfaces in the airport and the aircraft cabin.

The company has consulted the Iata Health Safety Standards Checklist, the ICAO CART Take-off guidance and recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to come up with its own checklist and safety ratings system.

“After seeing some spurious ratings of airline Covid-19 standards, based on little more than reading an airline’s Covid-19 policies, we see it as necessary to introduce some reality into providing Covid-19 ratings based on the actual airline travel experience and assessment,” says Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax.  

“Airlines are in the midst of the most challenging time in their history, and encouraging customers back onto flights involves not only changes to PCR testing, quarantine and country travel policies, but also in being able to demonstrate the necessary level of assurance for their Covid-19 measures through independent and professional assessment.  

“We congratulate British Airways and Lufthansa on achieving this commendable four-star Covid-19 Rating.”

Hampered somewhat by current travel restrictions, Skytrax plans to roll-out its airline safety ratings across European carriers, before moving its attention to airlines in the Middle East and South America, and starting assessments in Asia and North America later this year.

Tourists can take a tour of the Titanic in 2021, the first time the shipwreck has been explored in 15 years.

Packages to visit the submerged vessel are being sold by OceanGate Expeditions for $125,000 (£95,000) a pop.

The transatlantic cruise liner, which famously sank during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, is located 4,000 metres underwater, around 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Six trips are being planned for next year, taking place from May to September, with 36 tickets already sold. Nine passengers are allowed per excursion, meaning there are 54 places available in total and 18 tickets left.

Visitors will get a private cabin on the eight-day sailing from Canada, plus will get the chance to operate a five-person submarine while completing the 90-minute descent to reach the shipwreck.

There are no human remains left onboard, according to experts, but there are many other well-preserved objects that once belonged to guests, including children’s toys, luggage and wine bottles.

“There are boots and shoes and clothes that show where people were 100 years ago, and that is very sombre,” Stockton Rush, president of OceanGate Expeditions, told Bloomberg.

Dives will last six to eight hours, with three hours reserved for exploring the ship itself, and will double up as scientific research missions to examine the sea life surrounding the wreck.  

However, not everyone agrees that tourists should be encouraged to visit.

Beverley Roberts, a descendent of passengers who were on the Titanic, told the BBC that the shipwreck is a “mass grave site” and should be left in peace.

OceanGate Expeditions has already rescheduled the tours several times, first offering the experience in 2018 before it was pushed back to 2019 and now 2021.

It may be one of the last chances to see the shipwreck; a 2016 study found that “extremophile bacteria” could eat away at the vessel within 15 to 20 years.

BY  Lottie Gross

I left the house yesterday morning geared up for a fight. Suitcase packed, passport at the ready, letter from my editor to confirm my Very Important Assignment – give me your best, bureaucracy; I was ready. I almost expected to be stopped on the M4 and questioned by eager police officers about my journey, and I already had my speech prepared to plead my case with Britain’s border control so that I could get on my 7am flight from London Heathrow to Gibraltar. As it turned out, I need not have worried.

The roads were empty, check-in at Terminal 5 was devoid of activity – aside from a smattering of bored BA staff members and a few snoozing travellers on benches – and not one official looked at me with a questioning glance during my entire journey through the airport. Despite the Government imposing an “all but essential” international travel ban in England on November 5, as part of the new lockdown measures, it seems there’s not much stopping travellers from travelling at all.

But exactly who polices this is entirely unclear – so yesterday morning I endeavoured to find out." data-reactid="19" style="margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Until December 2, you can only travel abroad for work or education. Holidays are well and truly banned. Flout the rules and you risk a fine of up to £200. But exactly who polices this is entirely unclear â€“ so yesterday morning I endeavoured to find out.

I tried my hardest to look like a holidaymaker. I wore bright yellow summer sandals in the middle of a chilly November, I donned my sunglasses at 6am on a dark, overcast morning, and swanned around the terminal in my pink vest top as if it wasn’t 10 degrees outside. I was desperately trying to antagonise the powers that be, wherever they were, but not a single eyebrow was raised. Not even when I started taking selfies like an obnoxious influencer in the Departures hall.

Instead of battling my way onto the plane past officious staff as I had expected, I had my most pleasant airport experience yet. I breezed through security with approximately 10 other passengers, there was no queue at Pret for my morning flat white, and the boarding process was so fast I hardly had time to put my carry-on in the overhead compartment before they were locking the doors and pointing out the emergency exits. I could get used to this.

“You’re my fifth customer since 5am,” the single staff member at WH Smith told me as I paid for my Sunday Telegraph. “It’s been dead here since Friday.” He said he saw a rush of people coming through Terminal 5 from Wednesday, but Saturday was quiet and, so far, this morning has been dead too. But that is not because there are no flights. The departures board was full, with planes leaving for Madrid, Rome, Doha and Tenerife, where no doubt some cheeky travellers are jetting off for a holiday thanks to the Canary Islands air corridor announced in October.

this is actually permitted under the lockdown legislation)." data-reactid="24" style="margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The server at WH Smith told me he reckons most people are just going on holiday, and I met a few people who were doing just that. One passenger on my flight said he was just going for a quick visit, and another man I met was off to Albania to get married (this is actually permitted under the lockdown legislation).

When I asked him if he was worried about the new rules, his response was “what travel ban?” He had no idea there were even restrictions in place. Aside from warnings on the FCDO and airline websites, there’s very little here to remind you that you should really be staying at home. Not a single sign in the airport explains what the rules are, and the only real warning comes in the form of a vague, somewhat passive aggressive pre-recorded message blasted over the tannoy: “Passengers going abroad are reminded to check foreign travel advice before flying.”

The advice, of course, is don’t fly – but by this point it’s too late, you’re already through security and at the gate so what’s the point in turning back now like a good, upstanding citizen? 

I shouldn’t be surprised really – the Government’s approach to this pandemic has been so laissez-faire, and its disregard for the travel industry so blatant, that I really should have known better than to have delusions of diligence. It seems they are simply relying on the British people to have good faith and follow the rules, which we must do, of course. But that’s not so easy to stomach when there are many – including, in the past, those in positions of power – who don’t.

The question still remains, though, as to whether there will be checks arriving back into the UK. I could well get that grilling by border guards when I land. I shan’t worry about that now, though, as I’ve got a rock to climb and some monkeys to feed here in sunny Gibraltar. 

By Shola Adekola - Lagos

Nigeria’s leading airline, Air Peace, has announced a forthcoming special charter flight to Delhi in India and back.

The airline made this known in a news release made available to journalists on Tuesday evening.

According to the airline management, the flight is scheduled to depart the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos on November 27 and will return the next day.

The airline, however, announced that persons interested in joining the charter flight should contact [email protected], adding that the Economy ticket sells for $1300 while Business Class goes for $1800.

“Anyone who wishes to be on the flight should make payment immediately. Passengers can also pay in Naira at N478/$1”, the airline said.
https://tribuneonlineng.com/ai...

By Aline Barros

WASHINGTON - The incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden could swiftly reverse an array of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, many of which remain among the most contentious initiatives of his administration.

Biden could overturn many guidelines using the same mechanism Trump employed to implement them: executive orders. Others, however, will require more than a policy declaration, experts say.

In the last four years, Trump authored more than 400 regulatory actions through his executive power.    Michele Waslin, program coordinator at the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University in Virginia, told VOA the list includes sweeping travel restrictions, changed immigration enforcement priorities, overhauled asylum rules, an emergency declaration for border wall construction and successively reduced caps on refugee admissions.

“In theory, presidential proclamations and executive orders can be rescinded by the new president; however, in many cases, the change will not be immediate since people will need to be installed in the agencies, guidance and field manuals must be updated, and plans will need to be made to carry out the changes,” she said.

Waslin said undoing other policies is expected to be more complex.

"Policies that were changed through regulations will likely require new regulations and a new public comment period,” she explained.

The first 100 days

Within the first 100 days, Biden is expected to repeal Trump’s executive order that barred most nationals from certain countries from visiting the United States. Initially, the restrictions targeted citizens of some majority Muslim nations, but they were expanded to include other countries Washington regards as security threats. 

Expanded US Travel Ban Renews Fierce Debate  Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania are now part of an amended executive order that already imposes travel restrictions on some citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, along with Venezuela and North Korea

The latest order includes Myanmar (Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, along with Venezuela and North Korea.

Another change that experts said would be simple to make is reopening the DACA program to all qualified applicants.

DACA is short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program launched by the Obama administration that shields from deportation people brought illegally to the United States as minors.

Supreme Court DACA Ruling Explained The court narrowly ruled that the administration did not follow procedure, not that DACA recipients have a permanent right to live in the United States

Under the Trump administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stopped accepting new DACA applications.

In 2019, the Trump administration proposed a plan promising a "fair, modern and legal" overhaul of the American immigration system. It did not address the DACA program and Congress did not act on it.

Trump Immigration Plan Would Reshape System A proposed "fair, modern and legal" overhaul of the American immigration system, which lawmakers from both major U.S. parties contend has little chance of winning congressional approval, was announced Thursday by U.S.

It is widely expected that a Biden administration will extend protection from deportation as well as work authorization to hundreds of thousands of additional unauthorized immigrants who arrived as children.

“The Supreme Court had already ordered USCIS to begin processing DACA applications again, but they have not done so. The new administration should be able to reopen the application process; however, a legislative solution is needed to truly offer permanent protection to that group of people who arrived in the U.S. as young children,” Waslin said.

Public charge

According to a report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), reversing the USCIS’s public-charge regulation will require more than the stroke of a pen. The agency likely would have to go through a notice and public comment period.

The public charge rule, or the wealth test, as critics call it, seeks to determine whether an immigrant is likely to rely on America's public assistance programs. Although the rule is not a new concept and has been on the books for more than 20 years, the Trump administration is making actual use of it far more than its predecessors did.

New US Immigration Rule Sparks Questions After getting a preliminary green light from US Supreme Court, Trump administration is set to subject immigrants to heightened scrutiny based on their perceived likelihood to rely on America's public assistance programs — what critics call a wealth test 

Biden has also vowed to send Congress legislation to provide legal status to many undocumented immigrants in the country.   “Yet seeking congressional action on one of the most contentious immigration issues would inevitably be a challenging first step for the new administration, even as public support for immigration overall has risen to the highest recorded,” MPI reports.

Refugee program

The United States has for years taken in tens of thousands of refugees, but under the Trump administration, admissions have reached a record low.

US Cuts Refugee Admissions, Creating Doubt for Tens of Thousands of Applicants  Administration publishes notice of new all-time-low number for refugee admissions

Biden is expected to raise the refugee cap for fiscal 2021, which the Trump administration set at 15,000. During the campaign, Biden pledged a refugee admissions ceiling of 125,000.

"Dramatic cuts to refugee admissions have hit the network of nonprofit agencies that do the work of refugee resettlement hard. Resettlement capacity has decreased nearly 40 percent since FY 2017,” MPI noted, adding that, before leaving office, former President Barack Obama set the number at 110,000.

MPP and asylum rules

Trump’s oft-repeated pledge to halt illegal immigration and get control of America’s southern border spawned an array of policies and regulations that narrowed access to humanitarian protections for migrants.

They included Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico policy, which forced thousands of migrants to stay in Mexican border cities while awaiting immigration court hearings in the United States. The administration also restricted asylum for immigrants who traveled through Central American countries if they failed to apply for protection in a transit nation before arriving at a U.S. port of entry.

Undoing the MPP and reinstating asylum protection will be the most difficult, experts predict.

“I believe the Trump administration's actions toward refugees, asylees and others seeking humanitarian assistance will be felt for a very long time,” Waslin said. “It will take a while for the U.S. to reassert its leadership and provide the assistance it can to people suffering around the world.”

The Trump administration has defended MPP as preventing overcrowding in U.S. migrant detention facilities.

In an upcoming article, VOA immigration reporter Aline Barros will examine possible changes to H-1B regulations, international student visas, border wall construction and migrant detention in a Biden administration.

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

About 14.29 per cent of the over 8, 100 workers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) will transfer their services to private sector players who will run airports planned for concession by the Federal Government, Minister of Aviation, Captain Hadi Sirika has disclosed.

The minister who disclosed this in Abuja said the category of workers to be affected by the development include personnel working at the terminal building , which constitute part of infrastructure to be handed over to would be concessionaire.

The minister said the concession exercise  would not lead to mass sack of workers as claimed by some stakeholders in the sector.

But, members of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation   had suspended the concession of the four airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt because they said it is   not in  national interest as well as  lacking in transparency.

Sirika , who  presented the Nigeria Airport Terminal Concession Strategy to the House of Representatives stated   that only 1,158, workers of FAAN working at the terminal buildings would be transferred to the would-be concessionaires.

He  said  with new buildings in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano more manpower would be needed. He listed the airports to be taken over by FAAN to include Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe, Osubi, Dutse, would need  more personnel to man the facilities rather than  job loss.

Sirika further stated that the successful concessioning of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Abuja airports would lead to improved provision of infrastructure at the airports, while passenger traffic would also increase at the terminals.

On staff of FAAN with the concessionaire, he said staff redeployed to the concessionaires would have the option of returning to FAAN after a period of 18 to 24 months, while staff not required by a concessionaire would also be allowed to return to FAAN after the 18 to 24 months period.

Sirika maintained that the benefits of transferred staff would also, be paid by FAAN on completion of the 18 to 24 months if the staff decided to stay with a concessionaire.

Besides, Sirika pointed out that the concessionaires would sign service level agreements with FAAN and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to ensure that airport operates efficiently, while the service level agreement would cover the runway, taxiway, security and air traffic management.

He added: “FAAN will negotiate benefits to be paid with the unions before completion of the handover. Traffic will increase as a result of increased efficiency and expansion, costs will reduce due to efficient operations and FAAN will be paid its own share of Passenger Service Charge (PSC) and security levy directly from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

“All other facilities at the airports will still be managed by FAAN. Our airports are national security assets. This must be kept so. The concessionaire(s) will provide the investment required to upgrade the existing terminals, take over the new terminals and maintain them over a period of time to be determined based on financial assessment of each transaction.

“Passenger Service Charge and security charge will be shared by FAAN and the concessionaire(s) and FAAN’s share of the charges shall be paid directly to FAAN by IATA. FAAN will be required to provide manpower through Aviation Security (AVSEC) for the security of both the airside and landside.”

He added that the concessionaires were expected to provide and maintain landside equipment, while FAAN continued to provide and maintain airside security equipment, stressing that all existing concession contracts within the terminal concession would be transferred to the concessionaire(s) as part of their management obligations.

SINGAPORE: Singapore is rolling out the red carpet for top talent, launching a programme to initially attract 500 individuals with a proven track record of contributing to the global technology ecosystem.

Under the so-called Tech.Pass programme, qualified individuals will be able to secure a new type of visa allowing them to start and operate more than one company and become an investor, consultant or mentor for local startups, according to the Economic Development Board.

This offers more flexibility than current government regulations, which require companies to sponsor an employment pass for talent they want to bring in.

The two-year visa isn’t designed for mid-tier tech workers who might compete with locals for jobs, a political issue that has prompted the government to tighten its framework for issuing employment passes to foreigners this year. It’s targeted at highly accomplished entrepreneurs and technical experts who can bring in capital, networks and knowhow, as Singapore aims to become the region’s technology and innovation hub.

“Tech.Pass will add to the critical mass of established tech talent in Singapore and create a ‘flywheel effect’ to further strengthen our position as a leading tech hub for the region,” Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said in his opening remarks at the closed-door dialogue with the European Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

Candidates must meet two of the three requirements before they can apply for the programme starting in January. They must have last drawn a monthly salary of at least S$20,000 (445,000 baht); have at least five years of experience in leading a tech company with a valuation or market value of at least US$500 million; or have at least five years of experience in developing a tech product that has at least 100,000 monthly active users or at least US$100 million of revenue.

BY  Henry Goldman

(Bloomberg) -- New York bars and restaurants with state liquor licenses must close at 10 p.m. along with gyms, and indoor gatherings must be limited to 10 people, to help stop a resurgence of the coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

“If these measures are not sufficient to stem the spread, we will turn the valve more,” Cuomo said Wednesday during a call with reporters. The rules, which begin Friday, came as cases jumped to the highest since April.

Cuomo, a Democrat who wrote a book of leadership lessons from his virus response, said he is hoping to avoid a full lockdown. The state has seen a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in recent weeks with kids returning to school and colder weather keeping more people indoors. Bars, restaurants, gyms and small parties are big contributors. “If you look at where the cases are coming from, you see they’re coming from three main areas and we’re going to act on those three areas,” the governor said.

Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, said the restrictions should be backed up by contact tracing data. “They will make it even more difficult for these small businesses to survive,” he said. “We demand that our elected leaders provide financial support to our city’s restaurants and bars before they permanently shutter and put tens of thousands of New Yorkers out of work.”

On Wednesday, New York reported 4,820 additional virus cases and 21 deaths. At the beginning of September it was reporting between 700 and 800 daily cases and less than 10 daily fatalities. The rate of positive tests has climbed to 2.9%, from less than 1%. The state has 1,628 people hospitalized for Covid, twice as many as a month ago.

Party’s Over

The state’s elevated infection rates are especially pronounced in areas adjacent to New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, where outbreaks are more severe than in New York, the governor said. He decided to impose the 10 p.m. restriction to avoid traffic from New Jersey, where Governor Phil Murphy has ordered a similar limit, Cuomo said.

“Scientists predicted a national and global surge, and New York is a ship on the Covid tide,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo called upon New York City’s police department to enforce the 10 p.m. closures and other restrictions, saying the state didn’t have enough resources to ensure enforcement.

“The rules are only as good as individual discipline and local enforcement,” he said.

As for the restrictions’ economic consequences, Cuomo said: “It’s been hard on everyone and it’s been hardest on those families who have lost a loved one. Losing money hurts, but losing a loved one lasts forever.”

(Adds NYC Hospitality Alliance response in fourth paragraph.)