“It has to be studied.”
That was the response given by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, in light of statements by the World Health Organisation, which is now urging world leaders to stop using “lockdowns” as the primary means of controlling the COVID-19 virus.
The statement was made by WHO’s Dr David Nabarro on an Australian news site.
Nabarro said, “We in the World Health Organisation (WHO) do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus. The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganise, regroups, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted— but by and large, we’d rather not do it.”
T&T has been opening up the economy in phases and as of this past Saturday, increased numbers for public gatherings.
Nabarro cited the negative impact of lockdowns on tourism in the Caribbean and Pacific, “…..Because people aren’t taking their holidays.”
He said “Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never belittle – and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer.”
He urged leaders to develop better systems as primary methods to contain the virus, “Work together, learn from each other.”
Deyalsingh told the media that he had no comment at this time, but said he needed to study the report.
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