The Grenada Trades Union Council (GTUC) is making an appeal to the Government of Grenada, the Ministry of Health, other relevant authorities and the general public to be vigilant in avoiding our citizens from contracting and spreading the Coronavirus.
Any outbreak will pose serious challenges to the workers of this country. It would negatively impact their ability to report to work and produce. It would seriously impact the workers income. There will be a high demand on the resources of the National Insurance Scheme as was the case during the chikungunya outbreak. We recall how our already scarce resources were stretched during the period of the said chikungunya virus.
We are very concerned about the status of our students studying in China and hereby calls upon the Government to do all that is necessary to ensure their safe keeping and well–being. We fully understand the fears and concerns of the students, their families, friends and loved ones.
The GTUC calls upon our officials to address the matters in a non–partisan manner. We advise the Government to be truthful and open with our people. It is disturbing to say the least, that there are concerns about returning our students from China for fear of the possibility of spreading the virus, while at the same time allowing into our country non–nationals from the said China. These contradictions would only further serve to heighten the level of mistrust that may already be existing.
We ask our workers and the general public to be very careful and follow the advice from authorised sources to help prevent any incidence of the Coronavirus taking hold in Grenada and the region. This is ever so urgent when one factor in the many challenges we are already experiencing in our health care system here in Grenada.
While we all have the responsibility to be pro–active and careful, there is no doubt that the response and preparation must be spearheaded by the Government.
Let us all be our “Brothers keepers”.
