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Police probe 2 more murders in the east and south of the country.

The latest incident occurred minutes before the start of the curfew last night in Wallerfield.

The victim is identified as Amanda West.

She was shot and killed shortly before 9 o’clock last night at Jacob Hill.

Reports say they woman was at her Chaconia Drive residence with 2 other people when 2 armed men stormed the house.

It is said they attempted to run but were chased by the assailants who opened fire.

Reports say Ms. West ran to a nearby home on where she was pursued by the gunmen who fired several more shots at her.

She died at the scene.

Police say Ms. West was well known to them.

Investigations are continuing.

Opposition Member of Parliament, Dr. Roodal Moonilal calls on the government to vaccinate CEPEP employees, and let them return to work.

Last weekend the Prime Minister sought to set the record straight, saying CEPEP has been temporarily shut down and its workers will be given a grant.

He denied that there were salary cuts.

At a virtual meeting of the united national congress last evening, Dr. Moonilal questioned if the managers and senior staff at CEPEP will also be sent home.

Once again Dr. Moonilal said the government continues to bungle the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said an inquiry must be held into the COVID-related deaths, some of which he believes could have been prevented.

Dr. Moonilal said the government is callous in its revelation that without interventions there could have been 100 COVID deaths per day.

The country records 12 additional COVID-related deaths bringing the tally to 589.

In its latest update yesterday the Ministry of Health said the fatalities are 2 elderly males, 3 elderly females, 1 middle-aged man, 2 middle-aged women and 1 young man, all with co-morbidities

In addition the Ministry said 2 middle-aged men and 1 middle-aged woman without co-morbidities also died after contracting the virus.

This brings the number of COVID-19 related deaths since the start of the pandemic to 589.

The Ministry also reported 389 new infections.

The country now has a total of 9,995 active cases of COVID-19, with 155 of those cases in Tobago.

The Ministry said 63 patients were discharged from public health facilities yesterday while there were 241 recovered community cases.

Currently hospitalised are 453 positive patients of the hospitalised patients, 6 are in the Intensive Care Unit and 63 are in the High-Dependency Unit.

Eight thousand nine hundred and eighty four people remain in home isolation while 138 are in various State quarantine facilities.

The P1 or Brazilian variant is now said to be the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Trinidad and Tobago.

This is the conclusion from the University of the West Indies, which is tasked with genomic sequencing to test for the variant strains in the population.

Professor of Molecular Genetics and Virology Dr. Christine Carrington says some 12,000 lineages have formed since the deadly virus emerged at the end of 2019.

She says there are 3 lineages in the country but the Brazilian variant is now “pretty certain” to be the dominant strain in Trinidad and Tobago, having expanded rapidly since it was first detected locally in April.

However she notes there is evidence that the vaccines are effective.

Speaking at the COVID-19 update yesterday she pointed to the Seychelles, as having good results.

Two hundred thousand dollars bail for a soldier attached to TETRON barracks.

The Class 2 Warrant Officer appeared before an Arima Magistrate, yesterday.

Police say 47-year-old Ronald Steede, was not called to enter a plea.

On June 1^st, 2 warrant officers visited the Golden Grove Maximum Security Prison, Arouca, to deliver food items to soldiers presently incarcerated.

A search of the items revealed marijuana and other prohibited articles.

The Arouca police were alerted and the men were arrested and interviewed by officers of the Criminal Investigations Department.

Following the interview, 1 soldier was released pending further investigations and the other was charged for possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possession of prohibited articles.

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley says the Community Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program has been shut down.

He says reports of workers receiving a salary cut are false and what is in fact true is that for the remainder of the pandemic persons will not be encouraged to congregate.

Speaking at a media conference the Prime Minister said a grant would be given until such time.

Dr. Rowley said it was not a matter of job losses as this is a make work program.

In a release carried in the Express, CEPEP said the decision was in the best fiscal interest of the company.

Fourteen additional COVID related deaths takes the country’s tally to 537.

In its latest update yesterday the Ministry of Health said 546 new infections were also recorded.

It said the new cases reflect the samples taken during the period May 27^th  – June 2^nd.

The Ministry said 455 people are at hospital, 108 at State quarantine facilities, 139 at step down facilities and 8,677 in home self-isolation.

It said as at 4pm yesterday 106,587 persons have been administered their first dose of vaccine 1,179 have received their second dose.

A man identified only as “Channa” is shot and killed in Port of Spain.

The killing occurred just before the daylight curfew on the Corpus Christi holiday was set to begin yesterday.

Reports say at around 9am, the victim was walking along Oxford Street when an armed man approached him.

The man opened fire, hitting “Channa” several times.

He died at the scene.

Police have since classified the killing as gang related.