Director of Primary Health Care, Dr. Laura Esprit, has said that a major challenge at various hurricane shelters on the island this year, will be that of physical spacing.
She said this is due to the reality that Covid-19 is still here and is going to be here for a while.
“Obviously you’re going to have multiple families in one confined space. The challenge that we have this year is to do physical spacing, physical distancing,” Dr. Esprit said during a radio interview earlier this week.
She mentioned some of the main components that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has explicitly detailed in a document which, she said, is also being used as a referral point by the Ministry of Health.
She identified shelter and space management as a critical component.
“You have to think of spacing, ventilation, room temperature, even the common areas, various families,” Dr. Esprit stated. “There is another aspect they looked at in terms of shelter hygiene standards, so that’s where the bathroom, showers, handwashing stations, kitchen and even the waste disposal that comes into play.”
According to Dr. Esprit, another area which PAHO addressed in the document is infection control and prevention, “so if somebody becomes sick at the shelter how do you isolate them? Where do you isolate them before they are being transferred?”
With regard to waste disposal, she asked, “how do you detect any case that may be suspected in the context of the shelter and if you have to move them, how do you get it done expeditiously.”
Click to access PAHO’s Caribbean Shelter Guide COVID-19 considerations document
OK; you’re in charge. You’ve highlighted the problem. We still have time; you were hired to fix the problem. So fix it! Don’t complain and more. Tired of things not getting done!
PAHO should be ansering these question they are asking. Thats what they get the big salaries for.