Deyalsingh maintains caution on reopening

HEALTH Minister Terrence Deyalsingh on Thursday maintained a cautious approach to reopening any sector of the economy.

Responding to a statement by Chamber of Industry and Commerce CEO Gabriel Faria about a possible reopening of businesses on May 4, at the virtual health news conference, Deyalsingh said, “I would not want to say that his optimism is misplaced.”

Deyalsingh reiterated that any decision to reopen any sector of the economy will be made by the Prime Minister once he satisfied with the science and data he receives from public health officials on covid19.

Deyalsingh said an Oxford University study which ranked TT second among 149 countries in terms of readiness to begin relaxing covid19 lockdown restrictions was no reason for “a victory lap.”

No country in the world has conquered covid19, he pointed out.

“What we have done is suppress the virus.”

He said Government took “careful and deliberate steps” to protect TT against the virus. In similar fashion, Deyalsingh said, Government will act in the same way to transition TT into a post-covid19 period.

He also said he was uncertain of the total government expenditure to date to combat the covid19 pandemic. In response a question from Newsday, he replied, “We are just spending money.”

He said once the pandemic is over, there would be some determination of this figure.

“Maybe sometime soon, we can do that.”

In the House of Representatives on Monday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the budget deficit due to the economic fallout from covid19 will be $15.5 billion.

Imbert said the deficit is made up of a previously-calculated deficit of $5.3 billion, plus $10.2 billion of expenditure/losses due to the virus.

On calls by the Nurses Association for extra compensation for their work on the covid19 frontline, Deyalsingh said the regional health authorities (RHAs) are treating with all categories of health care workers in this regard.

“They will go to the CPO (Chief Personnel Officer) and do just that. Let the collective bargaining process work.”

In the House on Wednesday, Dr Rowley said Government was not currently considering additional compensation for nurses and other health care workers in the fight on the covid19 frontline. He explained this matter will be carefully considered before a decision is made.

Deyalsingh reiterated there is no shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

He said health care workers in the various RHAs are being stratified in terms of the level of risk they face and the PPE they require.