Praise for TT's covid19 response

BRITISH High Commissioner Tim Stew, in a letter to the editor on Monday, has praised this country's response to the covid19 pandemic which he said is "without exaggeration the greatest health challenge" faced in a generation.

He said TT figures suggest that the curve here has been flattened successfully so far. But of course, he reiterated, "we’re not through it yet here, or in Britain, where - with 20,000 - deaths we have faced our own challenges. Our front-line workers have met this situation with great dedication and strength of purpose, as I know front-line workers have here too. We owe our continuing thanks to them, wherever we live."

Stew's optimism that TT has indeed flattened the covid19 spread curve has not been publicly stated by the government with Prime Minister Dr Rowley, at a press conference on Saturday, extending the state's stay-at-home restrictions to a further two weeks. Up to press time, there has been 116 infections locally with eight deaths.

Stew continued, in his letter, to state that Britain’s Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State, Dominic Raab, will call on Rowley to compare notes on the virus and the situation in the Caribbean, and also to discuss how Commonwealth countries can support each other, in the face of this global pandemic.

The Foreign Secretary, Stew said, will no doubt mention that in Britain, while dealing with the immediate crisis, Great Britain has also been looking well beyond its own borders and to the longer-term needs. Britain has been a lead donor to the international response, committing £744m already in the effort to stop the spread, reinforce the multilateral effort, find a vaccine and save lives in the fight against covid19.

Regionally, he continued, this includes £5m to the Pan-American Health Organisation’s appeal to purchase test kits and PPE; and, internationally, £300m to the development of vaccines. "We have pledged with 20 other countries to give and promote equal access to the vaccines or treatments which we hope will result. We are also pushing to raise £7 billion globally, at the Coronavirus Global Response Summit Britain is hosting virtually on 4 May, which is dedicated to developing and testing treatments."

Stew said that it is evident to all that this is a time not only for national unity and setting aside differences, “Side by side we stand” as your National Anthem puts it - but also for international partnership, if we are to overcome the significant threats posed by the pandemic.

The next couple of weeks, he said, are also a time for us all to show continuing patience and self-discipline, despite the many short-term challenges, including economic, we may face. "Only by doing so can we plot our path to the swiftest return to security and prosperity," his letter ended.