The politician says soon there will be a proposal for new measures aimed at curbing the Covid-19 spread but the medical professional is saying let us enforce the measures we have.
That situation played out in this country within the Ministry of Health last week where just 24 hours apart two top officials were poles apart on the issue of new measures.
“We are not pleased with the large numbers who still gather for funerals and weddings, and soon we’ll propose new measures in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus,” health minister St Clair Jimmy Prince said at a press conference on the afternoon of Tuesday 19th October.
The health minister spoke of “an alarming trend of mass gatherings in private and public settings, villages and at community settings and he said his ministry was “appealing to churches, public transportation operators, bars and restaurants to please adhere to the COVID-19 protocols.”
“We’re also appealing to all entertainers, promoters, event coordinators and restaurant owners to keep their recommended numbers for mass gathering. Remember we had said no more than 10 persons inside and no more than 20 persons outside. The ministry at this time is not granting permission to exceed the required numbers,” Prince further said, noting that “this is not just a health issue, it’s a national issue and we need all sectors on board.”
On Wednesday 20th October during a Round Table Talk programme broadcast on the state-owned NBC Radio, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) addressed the issue as she responded to a question on enforcement, compliance and possible new measures to curb the Covid-19 spread during the Christmas season.
“I don’t know why is it that we feel okay Christmas is coming so we’re going to put in place even more restrictions. We’re not even complying with the restrictions we have now,” Keizer-Beache said.
Meanwhile, at a Ministry of Health press conference last Tuesday, Dr Keizer-Beache spoke of the Gamma variant of Covid-19 as the most dominant of the three – the others being the Mu and the Delta.
“What we are seeing is the spread is the same, in terms of very infectious, and so our approach is, again, that we need to use our masks, sanitize, distance, and vaccinate because even though the research does say that the vaccines they are less effective when confronted by the Gamma and the Delta, they are still significantly effective and, therefore, we are seeing that,” the CMO said.
The CMO reiterated the importance of the vaccination and adherence to the Covid-19 protocols.
“We are saying that persons need to get the vaccines, they need to distance. Whether it’s Gamma or Delta, what we are dealing with is a highly contagious variant and your best chances will be if you are masking if you are sanitizing, if you are distancing, and if you are vaccinated.”
