I can’t say I’m in favour of a state of emergency ‘right now’ – Hon Penn
The US Virgin Islands has had one confirmed case of the coronavirus.
Addressing members of the press on Monday afternoon, March 16, 2020 at the House of Assembly’s conference room in Road Town, Tortola, Hon Penn said: “I can’t say I am in favour of it right now,” in response to questions from the press on the issue.
He continued: “People of the Virgin Islands elected us to run their affairs, and I think we as leaders of this country need to run the affairs of the Territory. Whatever benefits I think we would get from a state of emergency, I think we have them right now; we have access to the funding to do certain things.”
Hon Penn said there are areas that require tightening up.
“I think we are at the point where we need to ramp up things like securing our borders to ensure that we have proper testing, to ensure that persons are tested, we need to ensure that the vulnerable population amongst us are secure and not exposed so we don’t have any issues with that vulnerable population and I think we can do that ourselves. We, as the leadership of this country needs to step up to the plate and do the things that are necessary to protect the people of this Territory.”
However, he said it is incumbent on other factors such as honesty from travellers when they complete the health cards detailing their travel and health history before arriving in the Territory.
The Opposition Leader has also called for schools in the VI to be closed for the next 30 to 60 days.
Hon Penn's statement came hours before Governor Augustus J. U. Jaspert said that while the VI does not have any confirmed cases of coronovirus in the Territory, Government has taken the approach that the detection, containment, mitigation and management of this Coronavirus remains a national priority.
"We have been working diligently to ensure that adequate preparations are in place in the event that we have a confirmed case. I want to thank all of our teams across the public service and Statutory Bodies who are working so hard to protect the Territory and to thank the Minister of Health for the action he has taken so far. Our dedicated men and women in the health services industry have demonstrated their ability to provide excellent service when the need arises and I remain confident in their abilities during this time. This may be a long journey ahead but I am confident we can support each other and stay strong," Governor Jaspert said.
We were involved
In the meantime, Hon Penn said the Opposition was engaged with the Government on the plans and programmes implemented for the COVID-19.
“Initially, we called for a meeting with the Government to understand the Government’s strategy as it relates to COVID-19. The Government subsequently adhered, they had a meeting with us to discuss their strategy. There was a subsequent follow-up meeting on Thursday of last week where they updated us on their progress as well as the plans that they have for moving forward,” he remarked.
“We have been involved, we agitated to ensure that we were involved in the process because this problem is not a government problem, it is an all of us problem, and we all need to play our part in the process to understand what’s happening.”
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13 Responses to “I can’t say I’m in favour of a state of emergency ‘right now’ – Hon Penn”
P.S just remember you heard it here first
Our biggest concern right now should also include multi occupancy housing where workers are sharing "barracks" style alongside 30 plus workers,.... look at the accommodation above little Switzerland by Banco in town ! ..also many small dwellings house 5 to 15 people , these places once infected will pass the virus to hundreds of people and so it begins!
I am saying that we should take stock of the situation and then take it from there.
1. Set up road blocks and sea patrols but people can move around within each community.
2. Set up test stations in each community
3. Test and isolate any positives to Necker, Mosquito, Guana for 2 weeks and release :-)
4. You will now have mobs coming in for tests. Repeat 3 after 1 week.