by Linda Straker
- Nursing staff at all healthcare facilities are overstretched
- Grenadian family members in region and diaspora called to contribute to healthcare system
- Citizens called on to become vaccinated
Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell has made a plea for Grenadian doctors and other medically trained personnel who are residing outside of the country to return and help the healthcare system which is currently stretched because of the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.
“We have trained hundreds of doctors in this country,” he said, disclosing that he has personally made calls to Grenadian family members in the region and diaspora to encourage their relatives who are in the medical profession to come and contribute to the healthcare system.
“I have called on family members whether they have nurses and so on, to come and give 2 weeks. We need you; your country needs you. We need everybody to come at this time,” he said during the weekly post-cabinet briefing on Tuesday, 28 September 2021.
Admitting that the nursing staff at all healthcare facilities are overstretched, he said that they cannot manage every facility, and volunteers are needed to turn community centres into temporary clinics for testing and vaccination for Covid-19. “Clinics need to be opened so that people can get the service when they need it. The more we cooperate the more we help them and help ourselves, it will be better for us,” Dr Mitchell said.
Using the opportunity to thank and praise the various medical teams who have returned to Grenada to assist with the ongoing community spread of the virus, it is the Prime Minister’s wish that others will take a page from them and voluntarily offer their service to the country’s healthcare system.
The Prime Minister said that he is hopeful that Grenada will soon get over this wave of the virus. “I am confident, we have passed through many storms before, this is another. This is probably the biggest storm because no country has ever dealt with a virus, a pandemic of the entire society which is what all countries in the world are facing,” he said. Dr Mitchell is calling on citizens to become vaccinated.
As far as the world knows Grenada was Covid free till those irresponsible citizens disobeyed the l law and was on the streets talking about their rights. The world was watching and counting the days. We knew a breakout would have happened and it did. Noone is speaking about that and now blaming the PM. Blame yourselves for your stupid behaviour. Leave politics out of this. You did this to yourselves stand the consequences. My friends and family are dying because you all broke the law.
Stop the blame game.We have an emergency and in my view Grenadian professionals who are in a position to help should should do so.Educate the populace to adhere to the health protocols and punish those who flagrantly break the law
Biggest super spreader in Grenada are the busses or to be more precise minibuses. Problem is the Grenadians like been driven fast with loud music and have no problems been told to squeeze up in order to get more cargo (sorry passengers) on board. Time for Grenada to address this embarrassing third world issue.
The Black Plague and the Spanish Flu killed more people than Covid 19, Keith Mitchell. Covid is child’s play compared to them.
And your point is??
It’s all a blame game. Now isn’t the time or place for this. Grenadians were warned. If you lived in Grenada you would have seen that Grenadians are stubborn, proud and failed to obey protocols. I visited and saw how the buses were crowded with very few wearing masks. Yes the government should have intervened but imagine drivers stopping and warning other drivers that the police men are ahead so let their passengers put on their masks. At the beginning of the vaccine, there were those who encouraged others not to take it. Today the same individuals are saying, vaccinate. Double standards. The government should be blamed for not ensuring that the there is no mass gathering. Should have taken an example of the Antiguan government. There are many who benefitted from government scholarships so what’s wrong with giving back. Too much negative talk start giving positive feedback to encourage the Grenadian people as to how they can protect themselves from this deadly virus. Encourage those in authority to follow Barbados example as was mentioned earlier. Start dealing seriously with those who intentionally break the quarantine period.
You should move to China or Australia.
Donna stop blaming d P.M why d health workers did not take d vaccines when hit first arrived in Grenada
Whether they are vaccinated or not the fact is that they are tired, overstretched overworked and frustrating. Have a heart!!
PM is doing what he can by asking help from Grenadian Medical professionals to return. Will this work? Chances are very less for this to happen for so many reasons. Even if they come, it would be for very short time. What they can achieve would be very less considering the availabilities of medical facilities.
What Grenadians should realize is that they can help themselves to begin with.
1. They should get Vaccinated! (I know Govt. can’t mandate it but, there are so many ways other to do it)
2. Follow the protocol even if you are vaccinated (wear mask and social distancing).
3. Avoid the crowed (no parties, no get-togethers, don’t crowed the bars, weddings, funerals etc.).
4. Most importantly, punish severely the violators of curfew and lock downs unless they have good reason.
5. Enlighten the people the consequences of the virus, lock down, Vaccine and social impact in the country.
We need to look at this situation from practical point view.. Recently I was in Grenada and I noticed affluent and affordable people are not affected much. They are vaccinated, get take-away food, shop in supermarkets, etc.
It is ridiculous for some one to go though the covid test on arrival at the airport when they can produce proof that they are vaccinated and also producing the proof they have negative covid test taken 72 hours before they took the flight. For this people will have to pay EC$ 410.00! This is not a good news.
So many things Govt., businesses and organizations can do to avoid the spread of the virus.
It is such a Small and Sweet country where the pandamic is going out of control is a shame.
Active cases 1795 and Deaths 130 (both of them still counting, I am sure)!
INCREDIBLE!
We certainly did not prepare for this:
Barbados’ death rate (68) is eight-tenth of 1% of people infected. Grenada’s death rate is now 2.6% of the infected. Barbados has more infected (7600) than Grenada (5000) but our death rate is 3 times that of Barbados.
I think the main reason is that Barbados has a much better organized COVID 19 management system. All infected persons are taken to a quarentine facility then “graded” into modest, moderate and severe patients. They are then treated accordingly. In contrast, we have stay-at-home self isolation, which means that the whole family can get infected, and we only allow “worst case” patients into hospital. I would expect that by then, it is too late. Perhaps our management strategies will improve over time. Hopefully…
A great observation. Couldn’t agree with you more!
Why should anyone in the diaspora send you money Mitchell? You borrowed millions of dollars last year and were given millions last year specifically for covid support. The money certainly didn’t go to the people like it was supposed to. You haven’t bought anywhere near enough supplies to account for it all.
Medical staff frontline workers were SUPPOSED to be vaccinated IMMEDIATELY when the vaccines arrived, why weren’t they? We now have hundreds of health care workers tested positive with covid.
You want the doctors and nurses who are needed in their own jobs to give you two weeks. They need to be in quarantine for 2 weeks to be sure they don’t bring a different variant yet to Grenada.
You stopped testing and tried to make money off covid by charging CITIZENS for testing when it is a public health emergency.
Even now you are turning people away from being tested or retested when that is how you stop the spread.
PAHO says you are giving POOR QUALITY samples. You had more than enough time to have the staff PROPERLY trained.
You did OK at the beginning but greed let the whole island down.
Look at all the unnecessary deaths, all those ancient elders who can never be replaced.
You ignorant claim that a privately run seniors home must PAY PAY for covid testing !!!! How STUPID are you.??? !! YOU and STEELE are responsible for those deaths by denying testing for CITIZENS who pay taxes and who built the country.
Yes Jen Jen. It is less than ideal management. On top of that many small businesses are going to buss because they have been shut down by Government without a rationale for doing so.
In the meantime no one objects to this highly discrimatory practice. So who is representing “small man” interests? Not the NDC that’s for sure as they have been dead silent on this issue since Government has closed down businesses. Yet staff are going to lose their jobs and income. What an utter disaster!!!
What are they going to do now? The pm had all the time in the world to plan for this deadly disease, and he did not a damn thing. Where the doctors going to practice? Are there and equipment in storage so they can practice their craft? Doctors are worthless if they do not have equipment? It’s a shame what Keith and Bowen are doing to Grenadians.