Kingstown – Prime Minister of St Vincent & the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, said fears of the COVID-19 viral illness spreading in the country have complicated dealing with the hazards of the erupting La Soufriere volcano.
Gonsalves said that managing the evacuations from the danger zone around the volcano had become tricky because there may be instances, when COVID-19 positive people may come into contact with others.
“You could see why the Ministry of Health is concerned about doing the PCR test (in shelters) and doing vaccinations because we are still in the time of COVID-19,” he said on the Face-to-Face talk show on the state-owned NBC Radio.
“One of the 12 people evacuated (on Tuesday) is someone, who only two weeks ago, we have the record that he tested positive, but we could not find him to test him over even when the community health services went looking for him.”
He said: “Well, he is one of the late stragglers. We are testing him now, but we don’t know the results yet, and you know all those who were on the vessel with him will have to be tested now.
“…If there is any problem, there is the question of contact tracing at a time like this. This is why for (people) who are encouraging (others) not to test or not to take the vaccine, they are irresponsible.”
Gonsalves said there is also the challenge of evacuees seeking shelter with family and friends, and this too, could lead to the unintentional spread of the viral illness among the population.
“There are people who are refusing to test – I am not even reaching the stage of taking the vaccine – but how can we meaningfully control the pandemic in a situation like this?” he asked.
“Even though you don’t have symptoms, and half of the people who test positive for COVID-19 don’t have symptoms, it is vital that we continue to do our testing.”
He added: “We have on our hands, in relation to COVID-19, something that can get out of hand. In addition to the shelters, the people that are in homes…homes that used to have three people, now have five, six, seven and eight.
“I can’t over-emphasise this, but we need to be responsible. This is not now a question of returning to normalcy and the economy and all of that, this is now the question of taking care of ourselves and our neighbour…our neighbour being everybody else.
“If we are not strict on the COVID-19 measures, we are going to have, more than likely – and I have been advised by the chief medical officer – outbreaks, and we cannot afford to have that…and the knock-on effect that will do to the health services and the like.”
Gonsalves also made another plea for residents still in the danger zone around the volcano to take advantage of the coast guard vessels and the vehicles the government has sent into the area from time to time and leave.
He said was concerned because pyroclastic density currents were now being reported by scientists monitoring the volcano at the Seismic Research Centre of the University of the West Indies.
Gonsalves said the island’s coast guard had made at least five trips, evacuating more than 100 people from the danger zone, since the official order to leave was given last Friday.
“Persons who have left elderly ones or persons who for one reason or the other do not want to come out, the window is narrowing sharply, and given the pyroclastic flows, for Heaven’s sake leave,” he said.
“Please I am asking you do not risk anymore of your life and your limb. We have done well in having no deaths, no injuries. We love you very much, we want to help to take care of you.”
Gonsalves said troops arriving this week from Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago under the Regional Security System could not have come at a better time, after law enforcement foiled a plot by a group of individuals to rob the homes left vacant by people evacuating.
“We got reports and we intercepted two persons, after we got intelligence that there were persons who had arrived at a particular area on the Leeward side of the island, which has been evacuated,” he said.
“The intelligence was that they were there to break into houses and to take people’s important valuables and put them on a boat and go elsewhere and sell and so forth. We were looking for four people and we got two.” (AR)
