PETER CHRISTOPHER
peter.christopher@guardian.co.tt
“A testament to proper planning and good work within the public health sector.”
This was Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh’s assessment of the findings of the latest Market Facts and Opinion (MFO) survey which has stated the majority of the public has seen the government’s response in positive light.
“I think that is reflective of the studied, robust, incremental approach that the government lead by the Prime Minister took as early as January 30. I think it also bears testimony as to the expertise as to the public health officials, our nurses, our doctors to manage this pandemic,” he said.
However, the minister once again warned against using the report as a means to become complacent.
“I think the MFO report is testimony to the ability of our public health response, the caring and compassion of our nurses and doctors. I am grateful for it however, with all the good reports that we get whether it is from MFO, World Bank whatever it is not an excuse to take a victory lap,” he said.
During his presentation during the press conference, the Minister referred to a report which listed statistics for Caricom states up to April 30, while pointing that we were still not necessarily out of the second phase despite favourable numbers.
“A total of 1159 cases including 62 deaths have been reported from all 20 Caricom member states. In Caricom member states 1159 cases and 62 deaths, that is what Caricom is faced with. Of these, nine are in phase two of the outbreak which is sporadic cases, and you would have heard the CMO say that is where we are so far. And 11 are in phase three, where you have clusters of cases. And that is where we don’t want to go. We would like to remain in the sporadic case category for as long as possible,” he said.
The Minister warned that despite our borders being closed there still remained the possibility that we could see sporadic cases.