In his weekly report during the regular Government Press Conference on Monday, March 15th, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Mr. Foster Rogers, reported that almost 400 tourists arrived in Anguilla between Saturday, March 13th and Sunday, March 14th.
Both the Permanent Secretary and the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Aisha Andrewin, applauded the herculean work of the staff in the Ministry who processed the visitors in accordance with the COVID-19 testing protocols. The CMO described the staff as “unsung heroes” for a job well done.
Mr. Rogers stated: “Anguilla continues to move forward in a world of COVID-19. Our protocols are still in effect. They are working and are still protecting us. I would like to make note of the fact that of Iceland has similar protocols as us. It is one of the few countries that is doing well, in terms of its precautions and practices for the protection of its people, while allowing tourists to visit.”
“On Saturday, our team welcomed and processed, almost 300 visitors.” “On Sunday 110 passengers visited our shores as tourists, so somewhere in the region of 400 visitors in total were tested and processed over the weekend — all indicating negative upon arrival.” “These persons are now in quarantine.”
“We are thankful for our staff.” “They worked tirelessly over the weekend for many hours to ensure that the results came back in short measure so that the visitors could move about ‘in their bubble’ by the next day. We do such tests on a daily basis with two machines that give us rapid but highly guarded results. I would like to say thanks to the lab team at the hospital and to all the medical personnel who have been involved in the weekend’s exercise. They worked long hours to ensure that all the persons who came to Anguilla were able to begin their experience as early as possible.”
Mr. Rogers hinted that the vaccination programme is going well. He mentioned that a second vaccination site is now opened at the old clinic in South Hill. This would make it easier for persons in the western district to be vaccinated closer to where they live. He also said that shortly there would be a vaccination site in the eastern area of the island, as well as a mobile vaccination unit, with the potential for vaccinating persons in the various villages.
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
