Director of Implementation in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ms. Nancy Charles has pleaded with Saint Lucians to trust the officials who advise the government in the fight against COVID-19. The government has been heavily criticized following the decision to open the borders to travelers from the United States of America. Per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of July 9, America has recorded 3,047,671 COVID-19 cases and 132,056 deaths.
In a call to Timothy Poleon’s Newsspin program yesterday, Charles indicated that the decision to reopen the country’s borders was not taken lightly. She noted that the government listens to the “Command Center” — a team comprising persons from various fields who provide advice on security, health, tourism and other areas.
The government official expressed concern that some persons are “opposing for opposing sake.” Said Charles: “I just want to remind Saint Lucia that it is a team of experts with technical expertise who sit and advise. And so I find from COVID, there are too many experts on Facebook; people who are not qualified, people who have not done one course in healthcare but they want to tell the CMO what to do.”
She continued: “I would like to make a special appeal that we need to trust the information and our technical people. These technical persons and the team have taken us thus far. I think we can say that Saint Lucia stands as a leader in the region in terms of how we’ve managed COVID, and how we’ve been able to manage the economy.”
Charles also praised the Command Center team for remaining steadfast amidst criticism. “I’ve heard people call the CMO names; say she is lying, say she is doing the bidding of Allen Chastanet…all kind of mèpwi that we give when things are not going our way.” She called on Saint Lucians to trust the “process, system and our people.”
Yesterday Saint Lucia welcomed its first international commercial flight since the borders were closed on March 23. Last week the government announced new travel protocols.
