Health Ministry, ODPM work on hurricane shelter protocol

AS THE threat of Tropical Storm Gonzalo becoming a hurricane continues to increase, Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram said the Health Ministry is working closely with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM). He was responding to questions from the media at the ministry’s virtual press briefing on Thursday morning.

The Met Office, in a media release posted on its website, said that on Gonzalo's current trajectory, it is expected to approach the Windward Islands late Friday into Saturday and is expected to strengthen to a hurricane by Thursday.

Asked what would be the protocol for relief shelters – should anyone have to use them – he said, “We have been working with local government and the ODPM for quite a while now with the same question in mind.

"Because it’s an emergency, people are going to need to come to a shelter as a safe haven and you can’t really – as somebody comes – say, ‘you are ill, you can’t come in.’ So it’s a different way we have to deal with it and we have sections set out.”

Parasram said they will ensure there are “places set out” where they can treat ill people, adding that the gene expert machines/cartridges in which covid19 tests can be completed within 45 minutes.