The head of the One Tobago Voice political party, Hochoy Charles, wants all 60,000 Tobagonians to be tested for the Covid 19 Virus.
Speaking with Guardian Media on Thursday at Breeze Hall, Scarborough, Hochoy Charles said this would allow for the better management of the virus in Tobago.
The former THA Chief Secretary believes the situation with the virus is worse than what is being portrayed by the authorities. According to Mr Charles, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) had had information on the virus since October 2019 and communicated with hoteliers in Tobago about it, asking them to report foreigners showing symptoms of the disease.
"We allowed Carnival to take place,” he notes. “Not only that, CARPHA has information on a particular individual who came in from New York into Trinidad."
Charles said the individual developed symptoms of the disease and returned to New York, and no one knows with whom that individual came in contact while they were here.
The One Tobago Voice political leader said the THA remains very quiet on the COVID-19 status and only regurgitates what is said by the government rather than being pro-active.
He maintains that if Tobago had internal self-governance, the matter would have been handled differently and the island would have been able to take care of its own and make provisions.
“If Trinidad is overwhelmed, as it is going to be—as is happening—they would not have any time to see about us over here,” he argues. “We should have our self-government, still remain a nation and be able to protect our people."
Hochoy Charles said even though the information was available after October, Chinese workers were allowed on the island to work on a project in Roxborough.
"If Tobago was in charge of Tobago, we were going to allow the testing to be done of our population here in order to know who has it, because you are sometimes asymptomatic and you don’t know,” he points out. “Secondly, what irritates me is that they send every case to Trinidad."
The former THA Chief Secretary says a facility should have put in place since the beginning of the COVID “fiasco”, to test and treat Tobagonians.
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Story by SHASTRI BOODAN