Dear students, in our last session we have discussed the steps of cost allocation. We will today do some practical problems, so that you can actually see how the steps are used. But I will just take a brief recap, see you have the total cost at one end and you ultimately want to calculate the cost of the product. Now this cannot be directly done, because in a particular company or in a particular production setup you may have 100 type of products. So it is impossible to link the total cost to the cost to the products and we also want detail analysis of the cost, cost center wise or department wise. So what is done is the total cost is first linked to cost centers and through cost centers it is charged to products. Now the question which may come is what is a cost center, which we have discussed last time, but I will just repeat it again that cost center could be a location or it could be an equipment or it could be a person or group or combination of this for which the cost is accumulated. So at one end you have the cost, you link them to cost centers and through cost centers you charge them to products. Now what is a product, product is any cost unit though I am using the term product it could also be a service, but what you are ultimately delivering to customer is a product in that sense I am using the term. So you want to essentially cost the particular product or a service. So the total cost first are linked to cost center. Now what are the steps for this linking? For this linking the first step is cost allocation. So what can be charged directly, it charge directly that is called allocation. So all exclusive costs are linked to cost centers, remaining costs or indirect costs are known as overheads and so the step number one is allocation. Step number two is apportionment. So the common pool of costs or the overheads are apportioned on some logical basis to cost centers that is called as apportionment. The third step is known as absorption. So now from cost they are allocated to cost centers, allocated or apportioned to cost centers. From cost centers you want to take them to product. Now how it is done? Let us say that in a particular cost center 10,000 identical units of x are made and the total cost of the cost center is 10 lakhs. How much will be the cost per product? 10 lakh is a cost of a cost center. Let us say C 1 cost center 1 and you are making 10,000 units of x. How much will be the product cost of x? Very simple because you can divide 10 lakhs by 10,000. This is nothing but absorption. I think now it will be clear to you. So your total cost you divide it by some base. The base in this case was number of unit. So you could get the cost per unit of product x. Now take another scenario the cost of cost center 2, C 2 is also 10 lakhs but it is not serving only one cost center, one product. It makes product x, y and z. Now what will you do? Now you cannot divide the total units of x plus y plus z because they are not identical. So you have to take some other base. Now what could be some other base? Number of units you cannot take now. So what could be the other base? The other base could be number of machine hours. So in cost center C 2, if 5000 hours of work is done, what will be the cost per machine hour? 10 lakh is the total cost, 5000 hours of work is done. What will be the cost per machine hour? You are going to divide 10 lakhs by 5000. So you know that cost per hour is 200. Now you will find out how much hours are consumed by x, y and z and accordingly charge the cost. Are you getting? What we are discussing now is known as absorption. So the base for absorption could be one number of units, second number of machine hours. Can you think of any other base? Sometimes neither units are known, neither it is very easy to know the number of machine hours. So the base could be percentage of direct cost. Say in a service industry like software, there is nothing like machining hours, there is nothing like units, they may use the development cost which is a direct cost and other cost may be charged as a percentage of development cost. So point is different bases are used. So at one side you have got the total accumulated at a cost center and then that is being charged to products using some logical basis. That step is known as absorption. Now let us look at some practical problem, so that whatever we are discussing could be more clear to you. Now let us look at this case number one. This is a very simple one, we are yet to actually go into next steps. The first step is to identify direct and indirect. What this step is known as? Can you name this step? This step is known as cost allocation. This is the first important step. Now material costs are 27000. So how what will be, will it be D or direct or indirect? Mostly direct, nothing more is given but usually all material costs are treated as direct costs. So let us put D here, factory rent, factory rent cannot be for one product, it is common in nature. So we will consider it as indirect wages. Again we do not know but generally wages are direct in nature, depreciation usually it is indirect because it is not for one product, it is for the facilities which are common in nature. So it is indirect, salaries generally indirect because they are for maintenance for supervising admin and so on, direct expenses as the name suggests it is direct, insurance usually indirect. So it is clear, this is step number one where costs are identified as direct or indirect. Now let us go to the second sum. Here some data is given about the machine. You know generally machine is treated as a cost center in production type of setups. So machine is treated as a cost center. You have been asked to calculate machine hour rate which is absorption rate for charging the machining cost to the products. So different data is given about the machine. You can have a look cost of the machine, expected life, scrap value, repair cost, lighting cost everything is given about the machine. And it is also given that the machine occupies one fourth of the area of the factory and it has two light points of the total 10 points. And Foreman typically devotes one sixth of his time for the machine. Now we have been asked to calculate machine hour rate that is a cost per hour of machine consumption. Now how to calculate from where will you start? First we will have to accumulate the total cost of the machine for a particular period. Let us say one year and we will divide by number of machine hours to get the machine hour rate. So we will try to calculate the cost of machine operation. Will you include the cost of the machine in that? No, because it is a long term cost expected life of the machine is 10 years. So I will ignore that. Scrap value is also one time information but using these three data that is the cost of the machine, expected life and scrap value I can calculate depreciation of the machine per year that will be considered as a machining cost. How much will be the depreciation? Can you calculate orally 2 lakh is the cost of the machine, life is 10 years, scrap value is 10000. So 2 lakh minus 10000, 1 lakh 90000 divided by 10. So 190 is the total cost for 10 years, we divide by 10 so each year it is 19000. Next is repairs throughout the life, can you consider it? I cannot consider the whole amount but I can divide it by 10. So repairs throughout the life are estimated to be 30000 divided by 10. So again you get 3000 per year. Can you tell me instead of giving repairs for the year, why throughout the life repairs are estimated? Because many times what happens is, repairs may not be much repairs in the beginning but you will require lot of repairs towards the end that is towards 7th, 8th, 9th year or 10th year of the machine. Now it is illogical to charge the repairs only at that time. It is more appropriate if we estimate the total repairs and charge them throughout the life of the year because we want to get a better estimate for the whole life not just for that particular year. That is why the total repairs are given and a proportionate amount will be charged. Next is total usage in hours which is 950. So how much will be for particular year 950 upon 10, so 95 hours that will be our base we will see it later. Next is electricity consumption, units per hour are given. So again we will have to calculate it to know the cost per year. Let us look at the solution because I think we have discussed too many things. So if we try to solve it, you can see how depreciation can be calculated. The cost of the machine minus scrap value upon life I think we have already done it it is 19,000. So cost of the machine is depreciation I mean machine cost per annum depreciation. So depreciation per year is 19,000. Next which we just discuss is repairs which is the total repairs upon life which comes to 30,000. Now how will you calculate electricity? Electricity charge per unit is given, total units per hour is also given multiplied by total hours. So you can see here electricity consumption is 15, rate is 0.5 and we know that about 95 hours of consumption takes use takes place per year. So you have 95 into 15 plus into 0.5 right 95 into 15 into 0.5. So you have got 7125. Next monthly rent of the department is 5000. How much will be charged to the machine? In the footnote you can see that machine occupies one fourth of the area of the department. So what will be the charge for the machine of the rent? Total rent per month is 5000 first multiplied by 12. So 60000 becomes rent for the whole year and again it is divided by 4 because one fourth area is used by this machine. So let us look at rent calculation. So rent into 12 into percentage area occupied I think there is some problem I will try to recalculate. So you know 5000 into 12 upon 4. So 15000 is a cost of the rent. Lighting charges are given to be 8000 and it has two light points out of total of 10 light points. So how much is a cost for the machine? So you can see it is light charges into light points for the machine upon total light points that is 2 by 10. So it is 1600. Next is monthly salary of the foreman which is 10000. How much will be charge over for the machine? It is given that the foreman devotes about one sixth of his time. So foreman salary into 12 upon one sixth. So you get 20000. Anything else? Expenses per month is given to be 500. So miscellaneous expenses 500 into 12 so you get 6000. Last item insurance premium is 1 percent. So how much premium will be charged? So it is 1 percent generally of the cost of the machine. You know the cost of machine is 2 lakhs. So 1 percent of 2 lakhs means 2000. Is it right? So I think we will recheck the calculation of electricity charges. Electricity charges are how much? Consumption is 15 and rate is 0.5 per unit. So 15 into 0.5 into the number of hours per annum which should be 95. So you can go back and check. It is given that the total usage in hours in the whole of the lifetime is 950. So per year it is 95. So you get 712.5. So the operating cost of the machine comes to 67312 divided by it is not 950. We will take it 95 because you are doing the yearly calculation. The machine hour rate that is total cost of the machine operation upon the machine hours comes to 708.55. Is it clear to you how it is calculated? Now where you can use it? What is the use of this calculation of the machine hour? Now you may be processing a number of products using this machine. Suppose product A is processed for 3 hours. Then we can charge 3 into 708 or suppose customer as for a quotation and the work of the customer requires 2 hours of time on this machine. We can immediately add 708 into 2 as the cost of usage of this machine. I am not saying the total job of the customer but for this machine cost it is 2. So like that on any product or any service we will add the cost of the required machining and that will become the total production cost. Are you getting? So this is how machine hour calculation helps us to calculate the cost of any product or any service. Now let us look at slightly more complicated problem. So here we will try to look at all the steps which we have discussed so far. So here company has 3 departments you can see it as department A, B, C and there is also one service department. Certain costs are given which are common in nature or overhead costs and certain information about various factors are also is also available. And technical assessment says that service department essentially devotes this much of benefit for other departments which is 30, 25 and 45. Using all these data we are required to calculate the per hour cost for these departments. By cost only indirect cost because we are not considering material and labor now we are focusing on overhead costs which are listed here. Now how to go about can you think of? So here you have got time keeping and accounts cost how to link it perhaps difficult. Let us take the next power how to link it look at the data below and try to link the factor to the cost is it possible to link. There is a information given about horse power of the machine so that is a good proxy to charge the power cost assuming that the consumption is more or less similar. So you have got that information about horse power capacity of the departments that will be used as a base for charging power cost. What about canteen? Generally the canteen cost will be based on the number of workers. So number of workers could be a base for canteen cost stores below you can see it clearly says the value of store requisitions. So that is a cost driver. That can be used for store cost depreciation capital cost in lax is given. So that could be used as a proxy for depreciation rent floor space is given indirect wages very difficult to link because they are indirect in nature but the best way is direct wages. So I think now it is clear to you a cost and the cost related factor or a cost driver. Now let us see how the calculation can be done. So this is how it is done. So timekeeping and accounting cost again generally will depend on number of workers. So you know the number of workers in each and you can find out the total which is 40 just add the total column for more clarity. So total hours are 40 and total timekeeping cost you know is 30,000. So based on the number of hours the allocation has been done like this. I think it is clear to you power as we have just now discussed depending on the horse power of the machine. The total horse power of the machines comes to 15,000 and the total cost is 80,000. So in the ratio of horse powers it has been divided then canteen on the number of hours stores on the value of store requisitions depreciation on the capital cost rent is on the floor space indirect wages as a proportion of direct wages. So here all the calculations have been done. Now at this stage one problem may come is we want to also charge the store cost to the production cost. Because in the first level all cost got charged to ABC plus service department but service department itself is not producing anything it is just providing service to ABC. That is why this is the second stage or you can say sub stage of apportionment which is known as reapportionment. So in reapportionment each of the cost of service department are charged to ABC. So the technical estimation was given to us that approximately it is 30 percent 25 percent and 45 percent of the benefit from service department to these three departments. So same ratios are used for charging the service department cost which are common in nature to production department cost which is ABC. So here the costs are charged. Now we get the total cost for A which includes its apportion cost 7,500 plus that part of service cost which is charged which is 1125. So you get 8625 it is clear same way you can see power. So the power cost for A was 29,867 to this it is also burdened with 1600 from service department. So 29,867 plus 1600 so the total cost is 31,461 and so on. So like this the cost of each of the individual costs are charged to ABC and at this stage if we take a sum we will get the total cost which is charged to AB and C is it clear? So which steps we have done now up till this level we have done apportionment which was done in the first table. Then we have done reapportionment of service department to ABC and now we have taken total. So what is the next step now? Next step is absorption because now the costs are collected at ABC but we want to charge them to the products. Now for absorption again we have to see what is the base. So you can see some information is available about number of workers and so on. So what could be the base for absorption of cost to the products? Can you think of what will be the base? Maybe here you can see the data more clearly, are the number of machine hours given? No, many times when machine hours are given we can calculate machine hour rate as it was done in the last sum. So here can you think of any other logical base this department ABC may not be doing a particular machining. So it may be tough to calculate machine hour rate or getting the total machine hours. So amongst the given options what will be the most suitable for absorption? Just think over it is very logical by absorption what I mean is we are going to charge to the customers or to the products. So how will you charge? Can you use number of workers or floor space? No, because they are for internal consumption. So the total cost of the rent of the factory is getting charged to ABC using floor space. But that cannot be the base for charging the customer. For charging the customer either it could be number of units if units are homogeneous or it could be machine hours it could be what else it could be? You can see one of them you can identify or it could be direct wages. So based on direct wages you can charge the customer sometimes it could be sale value of the product. But right now amongst the available data we will try to pick up the direct wages. Now we will not worry about service department we are going to charge only to ABC. So direct wages if it is taken as a base what will be the cost per department? So here what we are trying to find is percentage of direct labor. This is the absorption rate we have calculated I hope it is clear to you. Now how will you use this rate in practical circumstances? So suppose customer makes a query and for that work we require 5 hours of work in department A how much will you charge the customer? So you will calculate the direct labor for that 5 hours plus you will charge the 86 0.86 of the cost of the direct labor as a overhead cost. Most of the service industries like in software or in consulting they fix up a proportion of charge of the direct labor. So hourly rate is first charged and then on that hourly rate something extra is charged to cover up the overhead cost. So that is the rate we have calculated. You can see the rate is much higher for department A it is 0.86, 0.37 in B and 0.48 in C it may vary depending on the nature of the cost consumed by each of the departments. Is it clear to you? So here we have tried to look at all the stages starting from apportionment, reapportionment and absorption. Now one more step is left that step is known as under or over absorption. Thank you. So we have been discussing about how overhead expenses are accounted for. Now we will look at the next step before that a brief recap of the earlier steps. So in the first level it is costs are allocated that is you segregate the costs into direct and indirect. Direct are charged directly indirect are charged to some cost center. Next level is apportionment. So indirect costs are essentially a common pool. So you are required to apportion it on some logical basis. The next one is reapportionment. So the cost which are charged to service cost centers are again allocated to production cost centers. Next one is absorption which is very important and the one which we are talking now the fifth step is based on this fourth step. So in the fourth step absorption what we have done is the cost which are accumulated at a cost center level are being charged to products or cost units as they are technically known as. For example if the cost of a cutting cost center is 1 lakh rupees and the working there on is 1000 hours then we can say that the cost is approximately 100 per hour. So any job which is done in the cutting unit for 1 hour will be charged for 100 rupees and so on. So the objective of absorption is the costs which are accumulated at a cost center level should get charged to the product or service which is being delivered to the customer. Now one thing we should remember is this 100 rupee calculation was itself based on approximation because it is done using a budgeted cost of 1 lakh and a budgeted activity of 1000. So both are estimated and 100 which is calculated is known as predetermined absorption rate. It is called predetermined because a priori we do not know what will be the actual cost but we cannot wait till the whole accounting is done and the correct figures come. That is why in advance a rate is calculated that is 100 rupees which is a predetermined rate and the products are charged at 100 rupees as and when they are produced. Naturally what happens is at the end of the period if the actuals do not match with the figures which are estimated there will be some difference. For example, we are charging 100 rupees per hour for assumption that there will be 1000 hours and the total cost is 1 lakh suppose the hours remain same that is 1000 but the actual cost becomes instead of 1 lakh 1 lakh 5000. Now what will happen at the rate of 100 rupees for 1000 hours we will charge 1 lakh but the cost is 1 lakh 5000. So there will be a difference of 5000 which will be called as under absorption. I hope you are getting me. So 1 lakh 5000 is a cost actual cost as we will call it but the absorbed overheads are 1 lakh. So there is a difference of 5000 in this case it is a under absorption because the actual cost is not fully absorbed. Sometimes other way round may happen that more cost gets absorbed actual cost is less it will be a situation of over absorption. So at the end of the period the fifth step will be to calculate the under and over absorption and to account for these differences. Now let us look at it exactly what is to be done. So here we have defined the over and under absorption. So through the use of predetermined overhead rates they are charge on actuals as I have explained you and the predetermined rate itself are expected or budgeted costs. So they cannot match with the actual leading to differences which are known as under and over absorption. Here is a definition. So if the overhead absorbed are higher than the actually incurred it will be called as over absorption and exactly opposite when the overhead absorbed are less than the actual it is called as under absorption. Let us also look at the example to make it more clear to you. So please have a look at this example 4. So as you can see here the budgeted overhead cost is 360,000. The overhead machine hour rate is 180,000 and budgeted direct labor cost is 396,000. It is given that the predetermined absorption rate is based on machine hour and then these are the figures for the whole year 2012 based on the annual budget. Below this the actual costs for 2 months April and May are given. So once the month over the accounting system will provide us the actual data which has come for 2 months which shows that the actual overhead cost in April is 23,000. Actual machine hours in that month is 15,000 and the actual labor cost is 28,000. And we have been asked to compute under and over absorption and also show the calculation if this under and over absorption is based on direct labor hour rate. Basically we to begin with we will start with machine hours. Now can you think of what will be the under and over absorption? How will you calculate? Just give a thought how it can be calculated. First of all before calculating under or over absorption you should calculate how much is absorbed because actuals are given for the month of April but how much is absorbed is not given. Now how will you calculate that how much is absorbed? Even before that we need to know the rate of absorption. It is given that predetermined rate is based on machine hours. So we have to calculate based on machine hours what will be the rate of absorption. So just think of what will be the rate? I think it is very simple you can even do it without using computer calculator and so on. Just by observing you can calculate how much will be the cost per machine hour which is the rate of absorption. So can you calculate how much will be the cost? If you look at the budget the budgeted over rates are 360 and budgeted machine hours are 180. So how much is a cost per machine hour? Let us look at the solution. I hope you have calculated it orally. So the step number one is calculation of machine hour rate as it is known as. So 360 upon 180 we get 2 rupees per machine hour. This 2 rupee means is known as predetermined overhead absorption rate. So it is based on budget. So we call it predetermined. We do not know what will happen in April, May, June etc. But we have calculated that the overhead cost is going to be about 2 rupees per hour. Now let us see what happened in the month of April. So in the month of April actual overhead cost is 23 actual machine hours as you can see are 15. So if you absorb at 2 rupees per machine hour you will absorb 30,000. Now 23 is actual 30 is absorbed. So it leads to over absorption to the tune of 7000. I hope it is very simple and very clear to you. Now check it for the month of May. In the month of May you will observe that the actual cost has shot up. It has become 41. Actual machine hours have also increased but they have become 20. So at 2 rupees rate the absorption becomes 40, 20 into 2 but the actual is 41. So there is a difference of 1000 which is known as under absorption. So you are not able to absorb the full 40, 41. You have absorbed 40 actually 41. So there is an under absorption to the tune of 1000. Is it clear both? Now let us do it the same thing but taking direct labor cost as the basis. So here we are back to the problem again. Now think of the calculation if direct labor cost is to be the basis. Now how will you calculate? There are 3 stages just tell me what will be the 3 stages. So stage number 1 is calculate the absorption rate based on the direct labor cost that is item number 1. Second one calculate the amount absorbed for the month of for a particular month that is months of April and May and then compare the actuals with the absorbed amount. So let us look at the calculations. So what is the rate? Budgeted cost is 360 and budgeted overhead cost is 360, budgeted labor cost is 396. So 360 upon 396 means 91 percent of direct labor cost is our predetermined overhead rate. Earlier we calculated 2 per machine hour. Here it is calculated as a percentage of direct labor cost. We have discussed in the last session that various basis can be used. So one of the popular basis is machine hour. The second one is one which we are using now that is as a percentage of labor cost. Sometimes it is based on direct labor hour in very few cases but it can be also based on a percentage of material cost and so on. So in this case it is 91 percent of direct labor cost. Now let us look at the actual for the month of April. So for the month of April the actual cost, the actual overhead cost is 23, actual labor cost is 28. So if we absorb on the basis of 28 at 91 percent, 25,480 is the absorbed overheads. So there is over absorption to the tune of 2480. If you look at the month of May the actual is 41, the actual labor cost is 35. So you are able to absorb only 31,850. So there is an under absorption to the tune of 91150. So is it clear to you now? Please also see the comparison of two methods. So both the methods I mean are alternatives this or that can be used. You can see how much big difference is there in the calculation. Are you getting? So here in the month of May the under absorption was only 1000. Now the under absorption is as high as 91150 and there was over absorption of 7 but here there is over absorption of 2480. So the base of absorption becomes very important and the cost accounting data can change completely by the base of absorption. That is why when you do the product costing, when you say that product X cost me say 5000, it is very important to know what methods or what assumptions have gone into calculating that 5000. Because if you have used labor hour rate instead of say machine hour, the cost can be different. There can be vast differences in the cost. As if there are more and more products and more complexity, the differences can even be higher. So management has to be very very particular in using an appropriate rate of absorption. Now what will happen if you do not use the suitable rate for absorption? Say machine hour is better but you use labor cost. What will happen? What happens is in case of multiple products, you may have product A, B, C, D, E, F. One product gets charged more, the other product gets charged less. So what will happen? Let us say product A is consistently being over burdened, it is being charged more. Then our product will lose its competitiveness in the market because product A is costed on higher side, competitors may supply it at a lower price. So we lose the advantage in the market whereas product B, we are charging less. Definitely it will be sold more but we are selling it at a loss which we do not know. We feel we are selling it covering the full cost but actually we are covering less than the appropriate cost. That is why management has to be careful in choosing the correct rate of absorption. Not only that, they should also keep a track on regular basis. So in this sum, you can see that the calculation was done for the whole year based on the annual budget and now we are calculating it month wise. So in the month of April, May, June, if you in first 2-3 months you find lot of variation, you can perhaps change the rate to ensure that the correct costs are getting absorbed. Is it clear? Let us look at one more case to make our point even more clear. Now here, we have been given data about 2 companies. Have a look at it. I would not tell you many things now. So here you have 2 companies D and B. D does it using direct labor cost, B does it using machine hours. The data is given for budgeted overhead as well as the appropriate basis and you have been asked to calculate the under or over absorption. So at the end of the whole year, now the data is available. So D you can see 3 lakh was the budgeted overhead cost whereas the actual overhead cost has become 4 lakhs. So how much will be under or over absorption, are you able to calculate? Can we say that there is under absorption of 1 lakh because actually 4 budget is 3. Does it mean there is a under absorption of 1 lakh? No, it is a wrong calculation because it is not, we have not yet calculated the amount which is absorbed. So using the budgeted figures, first of all calculate the absorption rate. Then using that absorption rate and the actual that is 5 lakhs, calculate the overhead absorb and then we will get under or over absorption. So think over now, try to calculate it yourself. I think this is also simple, you can do it orally. So how much will be the rate? So 3 lakh is a budgeted overhead, 4 lakh is a labor cost. So it comes to 0.75 or in other words we can say it is 75 percent of direct labor cost is a rate of absorption for company D. So how much will be now the amount absorbed? So you can see the actuals are 4 lakh, actual labor cost is 5 lakh. So 5 lakh into 75 percent that means 375 has been absorbed. But since the actual is 4, the under absorption is to the tune of 25,000, it is clear. Now do for the other company, company B. So for company B, how much is over or under absorption? Now look at the budgeted rate 5 lakh for machine hours 2 lakhs. So how much will be the absorption rate 5 lakh upon 2 lakhs means 2.5 is the rate predetermined overhead absorption rate as we call is 2 per machine hour. So how much amount will be absorbed in the concern here? It is 3 lakhs, so 3 into 2.5. Let us look at the solution. So 5 lakh upon 2 lakh as we were discussing 2.5 per hour is a rate. So now for 3 lakhs at 2.5, we are absorbing 7,50,000, 5 lakh is actual, 750 is absorbed. So there is over absorption to the tune of 2,50,000 getting. So I hope the concept of under and over absorption is clear to you now. Now what are the reasons? The reasons for over absorption could be the actual hours work can be more or less than estimate then the actual labor cost may be different. So either the numerator or denominator can be different. The application method may not be correct, extraordinary expenses or there could be seasonal variations. Sometimes some major changes have been made in the either plant layout or the machines, mechanization and so on which are not accounted in calculating the rates. So it is very important that over and under absorption is calculated regularly and it is also suitably adjusted. So I hope now all the 5 steps that is starting with allocation, apportionment, reapportionment, absorption and over and under absorption are fairly clear to you. Thank you so much. We will be continuing in the next session.


Good morning. It is a state sale day, which I am so excited about. Oh, my other shirt's just right there. Let me move out of the way. Today we are going on an estate sale adventure, which I am so excited about because I have only ever been to probably two or three estate sales and I've never really done them where I've gone to like multiple in one day or really like took in the time to go and travel to and hit a few different estate sales. But last night, Justin texted me. He's like, look at these estate sales that are tomorrow. I know that he uses the website estate sales.net to which I will put below for you because you're able to find like estate sales locally in your area on that site. So he ended up finding some. And today we are going to be going to some estate sales. I've always been one to wonder if I'm able to film it an estate sale.  I think it's totally fine. And so I'm just gonna do it. I'm just gonna keep it kind of low key. It's not like a private space. Everyone's able to go to an estate sale and shop an estate sale. So I feel like if those items are on display for everyone, then I can share them with you as well. So we are going on an estate sale journey today. Three different ones that I wanna go to over the course of this weekend. I just woke up, I got ready. I'm waiting for Justin to head over. I had such a lovely sleep last night. I actually need to probably make my bed before he gets here. I had such a great sleep last night. My Helix mattress, I adore, love, could not praise and say enough good stuff about my Helix mattress. I would never ever consider another mattress brand. I just love it so much. And also I know there's a lot of controversy right now on social media about mattress brands having fiberglass and that is absolutely not the case with Helix. They do not manufacture in any facilities that use fiberglass. They don't have fiberglass in any of their products. So 100% fiberglass free for their mattresses because I've been seeing that lately on social media. So I wanted to also touch on that. But yes, I love mine. It's perfect. And if you have never seen Helix or heard of Helix before, the mattresses come shipped in a box which is one of my favorite parts because it's not some big clunky delivery situation and how you're actually going to pair yourself with a mattress is going through their sleep quiz which is also a humongous plus because I feel like picking out a mattress especially online could be a bit of a challenge.  Plus if it's not perfect for you you have a hundred day sleep trial so you can have it returned. So if you're not going to be able to come pick it up you don't have to put it back in the box which is the best part. So I mean the risk to trying out a Helix mattress is virtually none. And they also have so many other perks on top of everything I've already said like free US shipping, a 10 year warranty and flexible payment plans and financing options as well. So whenever you get your mattress out of the box all you have to do is just open up the packaging.  So if you would like 20% off your Helix mattress plus two free pillows you can click my link below which is helixsleep.com slash Drew Scott to take the sleep quiz or just find out any more information on Helix. We are at the first estate sale and they made it clear that there's an estate sale today. So let's head on in. This is a really cute house. I actually used to live on the street. My first apartment when I started this channel was on the street. Look how cute the door is with a little glass people. Oh you guys this one's good. This is a good estate sale. There's lots of fun things. Look at these old paintings. That one's cool. Yes, she's gonna buy it. L.A. and I was like, I'm about to see Drew in the kinda at something. Taking selfies with Law and Fox man members. Drew met some new friends. Get together and smile. Estate sale friends. The art in this estate sale is unreal. It's so pretty, look. Oh Justin look at that column. That art is so cool. So many bronze statues and like collectibles. Wow, look at this random needle pointed, shield kind of standing art piece that has this base on it, but I love the shape. It's like dark wood. The art in this, look how big this is. Justin go near that for scale. That is huge. Look how much art there is. They do know how to price their artwork here though. It's not like bargain art. That's so cute. But on a shelf. We have a lot of ceramics over here and normally when I'm looking for ceramics I look first for things that are handmade. So like I can tell that this one out of everything looks to be more handmade. This one's actually really cute. So I might ask the price on this one because it doesn't have, look at this. The lid of this. So cool. Canister, ooh, look at this carving. Love that. Justin just found the cutest base. Look at this. It has like a little block printy motif on it. Yeah it's like studio, but it has like a- Yeah, and look, I just found this. How pretty is that? I love a decorative plate. This carved in here. Little wall block. Here, oh my gosh.  It's all like trinkets and- Justin, what is this called? Like when it's like all memorabilia? Memoryware? Like memoryware, yeah. Oh my gosh, look how cool. So fun.  So whoever lived here really crafted their outdoors and this is a pebble, so fun. Whoa, it's made of buttons. Folk Art Angel Clock. It's made from matchsticks. Can you believe that? That is so cool. This frame is so pretty too. I love the striped wood. The edge of this little painted table. I love it. We found a antique store but they're having like a blowout, a state sale today. It says, a state sale. Everything must go, sale. Oh my gosh, look at this table. Look at those legs. Oh my gosh, that's so pretty actually. Actually, I've been exactly like this in my bathroom. Look at this lamp you guys. Oh my gosh, this is 125, it's stone. This is stone lamp. Lamp. I don't know exactly how it goes together but I love this. It's painted. That's only $50 also. We need that for the courtyard. Just like to hold a plant. Or even putting a glass top on it. Yeah, oh my gosh, yes. That's so beautiful. Look at this, you guys, $50. This squiggly wavy vase with like this little stand. Okay, wait, but this place has so much stuff. I also love that it's outdoors. Like I've never been to anything like this. It's so cute. Ooh, look at that mirror back there. It's like painting. Oh my gosh, look at these little like compotes. That's a fun place. Oh, that desk is so cool. It's like burl. Oh, look at that like shop counter with the little like, curtain and grid. Look at the vanity with the marble like that. Oh, yeah, the viola marble, that's so pretty. What are you getting? Oh, you know, just a mask. A mask for your mask wall. Let's go in. Look how stunning the ceiling is in here. The stained glass window over there. And I spent the weekend going to some estate sales and I found pieces, you guys. Like I have a whole collection of items right here and I think I scored immensely. And honestly, like the price points of some of them, I will say that the first estate sale I went to was more of like a high price fine art estate sale. There definitely were some pieces that were like random, that were more affordable. And there also was like this, for example, which was outside. This piece of art, it was damaged. Like it has a little rip in it right here. But I mean, they marked it at $10. And the guy was like, are you sure you want that? It's damaged. And I was like, it's $10. I mean, it's such a beautiful oil painting. Can't even tell from the front that there's a rip at all. So this, for example, was $10 at the first estate sale. Such a great oil painting. I just love it. The back also really shows the age of the piece. I'm gonna stay with art for a minute here because I got some great pieces. Actually, from the same place, I found this as well. This one was also, I think like $10 and it was just a little oil painting on a board and it was super pretty. I just thought that the design on there was great. It's not framed or anything, but it could be hung or framed. Found this really great piece, which I thought was so unique and it is a relief of three horses and it's kind of out of the casted. I don't know what this is. It might be like a casted ceramic or like a clay. It was a little more expensive, but I think I'm going to put this one in the shop. I just thought this was such a cool one. It's also in such great quality, but it is pretty heavy. So all around I thought this was a really cool piece. You also saw me find this one here, which is more of an abstract piece, probably from like the 50s or 60s. And I just loved how this was framed. It's super dimensional as you can see, but the color of the wood frame on the side really is what drew me to it. And then it also has this bit of gold here, which I do also like and the art itself, it kind of reminds me of fireworks. The actual orientation is supposed to be this way, but I love an abstract piece because they really can go anywhere. They don't have to, subject matter doesn't have to relate to the room you're designing or anything. It's just adding color, texture, and a little bit of artwork to the space. So I thought this was a nice one just to have on hand in case I have a project where I want to add some red or like some yellow or just this vibe to the space. Kind of a smaller piece, which is this wood carving here. And I just loved this. I love that it was signed because I felt like it just added kind of that personal touch to the piece. And I don't know the actual nature of this. So if anyone knows maybe what this figurine is, it kind of seems like it could be a religious figurine or something like Greek or Roman. I'm not a thousand percent sure, but I think it's super great. And it would be a cool piece like in an office or like leaning on a shelf. You're gonna have art for a second. Some of the decor pieces I got first, this, five dollars, are you kidding? Remember I told you guys I was gonna ask for the price on that? Five bucks for this little picture, so cute. I actually wanna put this in my breakfast nook shelving because when I designed the breakfast nook, I kind of just threw a bunch of stuff in the shelving and knew I was gonna swap things out as I collect them and find pieces that are like perfect for that space. And this is one of those pieces. So this I'm going to be adding into the breakfast nook area. This I'm really excited about. I'm gonna put this actually in my office, which was the most recent makeover on the channel.  Like see how many times I can go around. Something about this just adds an abstract look. It's just really like artistic and odd, but it's also interactive. I just love it. This here was a crafting lamp base. So it was like a striped wood lamp base. As you can see, the cord actually has like a little channel cut out here. So you would essentially string the cord up through here and then add some sort of hearth where you could put a shade on top of it. And I thought, you know what, I'm gonna pick that up because this would be such a cute lamp if I ever wanted to turn it into one in the future. $10 for that lamp base, which I thought was a great price. On the lines of striped wood, I also did get this striped frame. This was a little bit more pricey. It was a folk art frame and sampler, but this is actually like a little cross-stitched kind of art piece quote in the center there. But I really purchased it mainly for the frame. I love the striped wood so much. I feel like this is such a focal frame and it can stand alone in a space or it really can just make high impact on a wall with a piece of artwork. I found this little box, which I loved. It has different pieces of wood veneer cut out to create this little scenery. And I thought it was just so pretty, all the different tones of brown and just the warm tones in there. And then it has kind of a bark exterior and such a cute little box with a red rim. This piece I got for the shop, it's a little primitive mortar and pestle, which I think is so unique. I've never seen one like this. The mortar, which looks like this, so cool. And then this component as well, which creates this lovely little primitive earth grinder. I think it's so cool and unique. One of my favorite pieces of pottery I've ever found or Justin actually found this. I just absolutely love the colors in this. And I've been so obsessed with block prints lately. Everything that I've just been gravitating towards has been a block print. I feel like this just has a lot of what I love. It's a ceramic piece. I love vases as well. The color is blue. It's just the colors in here are so, so pretty.  Another pair of these candlesticks, which actually were in my last vintage drop and they sold out really fast, but I've loved these. I've only ever found them once before. They're like coily and so cute and they hold a candlestick. But just one of these like super simple on a little table or like a side table it adds a great bit of movement to a space. I have two bowls here. This first one is like a marble alabaster style bowl and this one was $15. It has some discoloration here, but I always love like discolored alabaster and marble. I don't know what it is. I think this would be so pretty on a coffee table with maybe like your remote or some like essentials or even like, I don't know, some fruit in here maybe like on a coffee table, some faux fruit, something cute. This piece honestly might be one of my favorites and I don't know why. There's just something about this that I've never seen. It kind of has this Art Nouveau vibe to it, but it's like a pedestal bowl. It's almost 10 in a sense as well. It's really lightweight, but I love the crimped edge, the detail and the embossing is just so pretty. And then the base itself, just how it's all constructed and pieced together, I could not pass this up. It was a great, great little accent bowl. Last couple of pieces. I got these candle holders, which are so fun. They're really tall. They're kind of loopy and they twist, which is so fun.  This piece here, a lot of you guys are gonna be like, Drew, return it. Look at it. It's like another spooky face. You guys know that I'm so into these spooky faces. This one, however, was $20 and I couldn't pass it up cause it was bronze casted on this like chunky wood base. And I was like, you know what? Even if I used it like this one day and it was like a figurative bronze sculpture in the back of a bookshelf that you didn't really know what it was that it added texture. That's okay. But also maybe I'll find a use for this. I just couldn't for $20, it was so, so heavy. It's like made of casted bronze. And I don't know, there's just something about it that I wanted to take him with me. I did pick up the matchstick art. I just felt like this in an office or like a den or something would be so cool. Like in every single component on this is made of matchsticks. Everything from the ship to the background to the actual frame itself. Every single component is made of matchsticks. I don't even know how many hours were spent on this. So I felt like this could be such a focal in a room in the future. So I picked it up. And lastly, I got one more art piece. I couldn't not not get it because I had never seen an oil painting with such like moodiness and depth and just contrast.  This is a signed George Harvey painting. So it's late 1800s and it is stunning. And for the price point, the guy was telling me like this is such a great price point. It was one of the more affordable pieces at that like more fine art sale. It was too good to pass up. And honestly, people were going in like taking so much art and like buying it. And I was like, you know what? Maybe these are good places. I don't know, but this one was pretty reasonable. I felt and for the subject matter and just for this, the way that it looked, I was like, you know what? I need this. Like I could find a use for this. I could put it on the website. Someone else needs this. I don't know. I just had to grab this oil painting and it's beautiful. And that is everything that I picked up this weekend at my estate sale adventure with Justin. It was so much fun. You can really find so much stuff at estate sales. And the thing that's great to know about estate sales too is that on the first day, normally everything is full price. Then on the second day, things go down in price. And on the third day, things normally cut in half in price. So the more days or the further it is into the estate sale, the prices are actually cut from that ticket price. And that's really across the board for almost every estate sale. That's how a lot of them actually work because they want to get rid of everything in the house. And I want to thank you guys so much for watching today's video. It has been a little bit of a slower start working into Marie's room upstairs. We've run into a couple of hiccups, which is why makeover video hasn't really happened yet, but we are coming to one very shortly. And I also have another kind of small space similar to Trevor's that I'm gonna be sharing with you shortly as well that I've been working on. So yes, I will catch you guys on the channel upcoming Thursday, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. Bye.


What's going on everybody? My name is Alex Freberg and in this video we're going to be going over the where statement and sequel. In the very first video we create our table, insert the data into our table. In the second video we went over the select and the from statement and now we are on to the where statements. Now what does the where statement do? It helps limit the amount of data and specify what data you want returned. We have a quite a few concepts that we're going to be covering today. Let's just start out with something really easy. Let's do where first name equals Jim. Really simple. So we're selecting everything where first name equals Jim and this is our output. So really really simple. Let's try where it does not equal. This right here says does not equal Jim and let's execute that. And as you can see we have everybody except Jim Halperd in there. So now let's look at the greater than or less than. So in this table I think the one that we're going to look at is age. So let's look at age. And let's do where it's greater than 30. And when we execute that we're going to get everyone who is over the age of 30. Now as you can see we're not including people who are 30 years old. Everyone include people who actually are 30 years old. We're going to add the equal sign right there. So we should be seeing people who are now 30. So before Pam and Jim were not in there and now they are. If we do the exact same thing, let's do less than 32. Here's everyone that's going to be included but if we want to include the people who are 32 year old then we are just going to add that equal sign and now the people who are 32 years old like Toby and Meredith are now included. If we want to go even further we want people who are less than or equal than 32 and who are male we can say we're gender equals male. So now we have two things that we are specifying that we need. We need someone whose age is less than 32 and we need their gender to be male. So let's execute that and we have four people who meet that criteria. So that's what the and statement does. If we write or then only one of these criteria has to be correct in order for it to be met. So if we hit execute now we're saying anybody who's under the age or equal to 32 or their gender equals male. So if we look down here Michael Scott is actually 35 years old so he's over 32 but since he is male he is now included. Let's get rid of everything really quick. I want to look at this like really quick. So let's execute just that and if you do that you highlight just that and hit execute then it will only run what you have highlighted. So now let's look at this whole table. Now when you're using like you typically are doing this for sometimes numerical but most of the time you're using it for text information. So if we're looking at this right here if I'm looking at last names and let's say I want everybody whose last name starts with s. You can't really do that with anything else. So I'm going to say where it's like and then I'm going to say s and after that I'm going to put a percent sign that's actually called a wild card and if I close that off what this is saying is is I want every last name where it starts with or where it's like where it only starts with an s. So let's run this really quick. Now we have two people whose last name start with s. Now if I put a wild card at the beginning we are now saying where there is an s anywhere in anybody's name. So let's execute this and see what we get. So now even if the s is like Flenderson towards the end it still counts. So you can specify multiple things in here as well. So let's say I wanted to start with s that would return shrewt and scott but now I want something that also has an o in it. So it has an s at the beginning and then somewhere in there there's an o. Now let's execute that and there's only one person that means that criteria. So you can do that for multiple things you can even say ott and let's execute that and he's still going to be returned and if we put c at the back it's not going to be returned because it follows it in order. So it is an s ottc the c would actually need to go over here. So now we have sc ott and although there's a bunch of wild cards in here it is going to return scott. So that is a little bit a little hint at how you can use like. There is a little bit more that goes into it you can use it for numerics. There's a lot of things that you can use this for but this is just the basics how you can use it today how you can get started on using the like. A nutshell that is how you use like and as I said before you can use like with numerical data as well but for demonstration purposes I wanted to use text data. Let's get rid of this really quick let's look at our entire table and I wanted to show you how to use null and not null. I can't really show you how to use null because I do not have any null fields I could easily update this table and make one null but that's in a future video where it's a little bit more advanced where you can start altering your data but just for purposes of showing you what null and not null is let's do where first name is null and if we see that's not going to return anything but if we say is not null it's going to return everything because nothing in here is null nothing in this first name column is null so that's how you use it there are a lot of use cases where you actually would use null and not null that will be in future videos probably in the project section or the portfolio section but we weren't able to show really how to use this super well but just as a demonstration that's really all it does it looks at the whole column and whether it is null or not null that's really all it's used for this is actually super useful and you can use it in a ton of situations but again for demonstration purposes that's really all it does so let's get rid of this let's look at in really quick so in is kind of like the equal statement but it's multiple equal statements so let's say we want to say we're first name equals gym and then we were like wait we also want to include Michael Scott so then we would have to write and where first name equals and then we would do Michael and then etc etc for anybody that we wanted to include but if we said in we could do an open parenthesis and then we can say gym we can say Michael and we can say as many people as we want going down the road just separating it by commas and if we had execute everything would be returned so it really is just a condensed way to say equal for multiple things so that is the where statement I think the where statement can get extremely complex but this really is highlighting the basics so if you can learn all of these concepts you will absolutely have the basics down and will be set to go over some more intermediate more advanced things with the where statement later on in the next video we're going to be going over the group by and the order by and then we are done with the sequel basics and then you can practice and work your way up into my intermediate level videos which are going to be coming out very shortly after these videos thank you guys so much for joining me if you like this tutorial series be sure to subscribe below and I'll see you in the next video


Welcome to NTIA Nightly. I am Gen. Norvel. This edition, Stop Stories. Thousands of learning devices to be distributed to students across the island. The Government of St. Lucia institutes new measures to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19. And the Government of Taiwan is facilitating Mandarin language training for public servants. The Government of St. Lucia continues to make strides towards providing the nation's children with a world-class education. Thousands of learning devices have already been distributed to aid students as they continue their schooling via an online multi-medium platform. As students revert to the virtual classroom setting, thousands more are to be distributed. Details in this report. The Government of St. Lucia continues to stead a course to achieving a globally competitive education, as 5,000 e-books and Mi5 devices were officially handed over to the Ministry of Education. The devices, which are equipped with learning tools and content aligned with upper and lower school curriculum, were procured and donated by the Joint Efforts of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, NTRC, through the Universal Service Fund, USF, and the Office of the Prime Minister. At the handing over ceremony on Wednesday 3 February 2021, Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shaste said that these devices serve as a major thrust to bridging the digital divide and holistically improving the education system. We've had a vision and a passion to make sure that we can equip our young persons to be competitive on a global basis. Smart St. Lucia is a major objective of this government. And what is it? It's laying down the infrastructure to facilitate us interacting on a competitive basis globally. We've understood because of climate change that we have to embed resilience in everything that we do. The new roads with proper drains and proper sidewalks. The new schools with backup generators and water storage tank facilities. The new healthcare centers that are also equipped with backup generators and refrigerators. So in case you are cut off in a community that we can store medicine, this is the foresight of building a smart country. The eBooks will add value to the learning experiences of students as the devices are equipped with content for 16 CSEC subjects. Exciting interactive learning tools and platforms which will ensure that students have equitable access to content for teachers. It will allow them to engage in differentiated instruction and assessment for different groups of students. Also bring in ease to grading and data collection. It will allow them to conduct labs repeatedly without exhausting resources. Parents also benefit as less textbooks will have to be purchased in the long run. Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, Honorable Dr. Gail Rigabet echoed the sentiments of the Prime Minister and expressed that upon assuming office, the hashtag Educate St. Lucia Initiative was conceptualized and had ICT integration in the education system as one of the main pillars of action. Another component was what we did, digital competency. And by that we mean ensuring that there is sufficient training for teachers and students to allow for them to better leverage the technology, not only the hardware but also software and other learning platforms that can enhance the learning and teaching experience. It is that comprehensive integration of ICT in education or e-education that has informed and undergirded the policy thrust of the ministry. The Learnbook devices were supplied by Fortuna Picks Inc. and the MiFi devices by Digital Limited St. Lucia. The Ministry of Education is responsible for the distribution and will commence this week with Form 4s, with the Form 3s and Form 2s to receive shortly after. Partnerships with international agencies will result in the donation of tablets to primary school students in the coming weeks. Reporting for the Office of the Prime Minister, I am Danielle Dubois. Following a meeting of the National Emergency Management Advisory Committee, NIMAC and private sector organizations, the government of St. Lucia on Tuesday announced that a state of emergency is in effect for St. Lucia as of Wednesday 3rd February 2021. This as St. Lucia continues to record increasing cases of the coronavirus amid its third wave of COVID-19. Prime Minister St. Lucia, the Honourable Alan Chastney on Tuesday highlighted new protocols to take effect in an effort to safeguard the health and well-being of the public and to reduce the spread of the virus. Our country will go back to a state of emergency effective Wednesday 3rd February 2021 for an initial period of 7 days. This will allow us to further restrict movement with a curfew from 7pm to 5am effective Wednesday 3rd February. The COVID-19 Act is being amended to reduce operation hours for businesses operations to coincide with this curfew. Visitors to St. Lucia will now require a PCR test within 5 days of arrival rather than the 7 days. Supermarkets will remain open. Let me state again, supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open. So there's no need to panic by. Essential services will also be allowed to operate. The full list will be published in the revised statutory instrument on www.covid19response.lc. The Government of St. Lucia on January 22, 2021 had instituted new measures in an effort to help curtail the spread of the virus. This included the scaling down of activities and business operations. The Prime Minister noted that as the country experiences a third wave, the strain on the health system is evident. He explained that the government from the onset had instituted several measures to combat the virus and its impact. In preparation for the pandemic, we fully operationalized OKEU Hospital and converted the VH into a respiratory hospital, specific for COVID. We purchased equipment to create capacity for our in-country testing, reached out to the Cuban government and recruited 113 Cuban medical professionals. We set up COVID-19 quarantine facilities initially at no cost to the returning nationals. In the early stages of COVID, we mobilized and delivered over 10,000 food and care packages to the most vulnerable. And we launched a feeding program to get thousands of hot meals to the elderly and differently abled. This provided a much needed market to our farmers. By April 2020, we launched our social stabilization plan to help the persons who have completely lost their income and the more vulnerable persons in our society. Income support was provided through the National Insurance Corporation to the tune of over 70 million, while non-NIC contributors received almost 8 million in payouts. Leader of the opposition, Hon. Philip J. Pierre has thrown his support behind the government of St. Lucia, calling for all St. Lucia's to add hair to the protocols. I must tell you that our party has always been in favor of following the professional and scientific advice as it relates to the handling of the COVID crisis. We've always said that we have to be driven by the science and the professional advice. In this regard, we have supported the government in the protocols that have been verified by science and professionals. Leader of the opposition, Hon. Philip J. Pierre. As part of the implementation of new COVID-19 measures, the Prime Minister explained that the decision to keep schools closed was taken to ensure the safety of all students, teachers and auxiliary staff. Students will continue utilizing the online multimedia platform to access classes. The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations is making special provisions for students who will be writing the CXC and the Common Entrance examinations so as to allow them access to both virtual and physical classrooms in a safe setting. Hon. Dr. Gayle Rigabet is the Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development. Our promise to ensure minimum disruption to the educational experience of our children is one that is shared by many of our partners and stakeholders. We have received letters of concern from school boards, parents, other organizations. We have engaged interested parties and the sentiment is that given the recent information shared by the Ministry of Health and what appears to be community spread, it would be best to suspend face-to-face teaching at this time. The administrative and legal process will take a day or so and therefore the effective date is Thursday, February 4th, 2021. The Minister for Education reaffirming the Government's commitment to ensuring the safety of all within the sector while providing students with a world-class education expressed gratitude to all stakeholders for their support. We are so grateful to all who have worked tirelessly to cater to the needs of our teachers, students and we are grateful to our ancillary staff who are our frontliners in this fight against COVID-19 as well. We have listened. We care for the safety of our students, teachers and other workers in the sector. We will therefore revert to online learning. Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, Honourable Dr. Gail Brigabert. This is NTN Nightly. When we come back, the Government of Taiwan is facilitating Mandarin language training for public servants. Stay with us. In an effort to ensure patient and first responder safety, the St. Lucia Fire Service has reviewed its patient transfer procedures especially for patients with respiratory distress. Face masks will be provided. At no time during transportation should the face mask be removed. Please be patient and cooperative during this time to ensure you receive the best possible care while keeping our first responders safe. Welcome back. The Ministry of Health and Wellness on Tuesday 2nd February 2021 confirmed 68 new cases of COVID-19. These results were derived from the testing done on Sunday January 31, 2021 and on Monday February 1, 2021 where 38 positives and 30 positives were recorded respectively. This is from a total of 900 COVID-19 samples processed by the Israel Long Laboratory of which 832 were negative. The sample period ranges from January 22 to January 31, 2021. Dr. Sharon Belmar-George is the Chief Medical Officer. All of the cases are St. Lucia Nationals who range in age from 7 to 75 years and are from Grosjele castries, Miku, Babano, Anslery, Viewfort and the Denver Districts. They were tested at various points of care and placed in quarantine by health practitioners while awaiting their COVID-19 test results. Arrangements are now being mailed for the placement of these individuals into isolation. On Monday February 1, 2021, the Ministry of Health and Wellness received confirmation of its 16th COVID-19 related death. The individual is a 61-year-old male from the castries district with multiple underlying illnesses. He had presented to a healthcare facility where he was tested for COVID-19. On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, he was admitted at the respiratory hospital and passed away on February 1, 2021. The Ministry of Health extends sympathy to the family and loved ones of this individual. As at 6pm on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, the Ministry of Health and Wellness reported a total of 1,479 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in country. 757 of these are active cases and 706 of these cases have recovered. Two cases remain in critical care and the others in hospital and home-based care are all stable. Shifting gears, the Government of the Republic of China Taiwan is facilitating Mandarin language training for over 200 public officers. Moindesh report from Jolita Peter. Mandarin is the official language of the Republic of China Taiwan, making it the most dominant language in education, business and media. An overwhelming 200-plus public servants have applied through the Department of the Public Service Training Division to participate in the online program which commences on February 8, 2021. Mandarin instructor Miss Ting Ting Lu, who is in St. Lucia, will be conducting the Mandarin training on behalf of the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund. She said the course comprises three modules and will be taught at the basic and advanced levels. Also besides the Mandarin language, of course they will improve in the end. I would also like to do some cultural exchange because Taiwan is in Asia and is far away from the Caribbean area. So I will introduce some culture of Taiwan, the festival or the lifestyles in Taiwan. So I want to help the learners understand more, get a better understanding of Taiwan. Over the years, a number of St. Lucia students have benefited from free education in Taiwan. Ambassador of the Republic of China Taiwan to St. Lucia, His Excellency Peter Chai Yanshan, says his government is pleased to offer assistance to the government of St. Lucia in the area of capacity building. In terms of Mandarin, I think Taiwan and St. Lucia are longtime friends and also constructive partners. We established a lot of projects that are really good for the benefit of all solutions and in nine ways the national development of St. Lucia government. And besides that, we want to enhance mutual understanding between our two peoples. And for that, most important is to know each other's culture, each other's philosophy. Permanent Secretary in the Department of the Public Service, Miss Peggy An-Soudat, has expressed gratitude to the government of the Republic of China Taiwan for making the delivery of the online Mandarin program possible. St. Lucia's over many years have visited Taiwan for meetings, training and cultural exchanges. Learning Mandarin will not only strengthen social and cultural exchanges, but will also help break language barriers. We have seen an overwhelming interest evident in the over 200 applications received thus far. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all participants well. Every year, the government of the Republic of China Taiwan hosts a cultural exchange workshop in Taiwan for public officers. However, the program had to be suspended last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From the communications unit of the Department of the Public Service, Julie Tepita reporting. Graduate recruitment in the labour market is being redefined during the pandemic. Employers are adapting to new processes associated with the COVID-19 response, and it is expected that specific competencies when hiring new talent will be sought after by organisations in this first. Delivering welcome remarks at the Sa'afa-Lewis Community College's virtual graduation ceremony, Minister for Education, Innovation, Generations and Sustainable Development, Honourable Dr. Gail Rigabet, explained to the cohort that successfully completing their studies despite the pandemic may very well work to their advantage as they join the world of work. It is that experience above all that in time, in time, well beyond the certificate that you received today that will prove your technical competency. It will be that experience of the lockdown and remain in productive and focused that will prove that you are made of something special. In time, employers may very well find themselves asking the question through the interview process. Were you in school during that period, 2020 to 2021, already knowing and embracing exactly what I'm saying now, which is that special crop of students. They would have had to prove their metal. The Education Minister credits the graduates for spurring urgent change in the sector under pandemic conditions, adding that their resilience is a foundation left behind for upcoming scholars. You are that crop of students who forced us to accelerate a very detailed plan for the integration of ICTs in education. You were the energy behind a more rapid implementation of that program. You were the ones, regrettably, were caught flat-footed. Some of you not having yet mastered the various learning platforms, but you are also the ones who, when we made the training available, availed yourselves of the opportunity and proved your excellence again. The road ahead, thanks to COVID-19, is largely unpredictable. But I want to reassure you that your experience here, especially the experience the last 10 months in particular, these experiences have more than prepared you.  You are well-outfitted to respond to and to resolve the many issues that crop up in one's life. The South of Lewis Community College's class of 2020 will honour in the virtual graduation ceremony on Sunday, January 31. The Ministry of Health and Wellness informs the public of the closure of the Environmental Health Division Water Watch office effective Wednesday, February 3 to Thursday, February 4, 2021 to facilitate deep cleaning of its office premises. This is necessary to address outstanding air quality issues with a view of providing a safe environment for employees and clients alike. The Ministry of Health apologises for any inconvenience caused. All matters requiring the urgent attention of the Environmental Health Division may be communicated via email at environmental.health.govt.lc That brings us to the end of NTN Nightly. Join us next time at 7pm with a repeat at 7am. You can also catch up with us anytime on the St. Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am General Norvel.