Since the onset of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Pan American Health Organization\World Health Organization (PAHO\WHO) country office in Barbados, has been informing its partners and stakeholders on the current situation and general preparedness for the virus
This information sharing continued on Tuesday 3 March 2020, when staff of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) were briefed by the PAHO/WHO COVID-19 Incident Management Team, at its headquarters in Wildey, St Michael.
President of CDB, Dr William Warren Smith, opened the meeting by welcoming staff and thanking the Human Resources department for its proactiveness in organizing the session. Dr Smith also welcomed the PAHO/WHO team represented by Dr Jean Marie Rwangabwoba, Advisor Health Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control, who also serves as lead person for the Office for Barbados and Eastern Caribbean Countries (ECC) COVID-19 Incident Management team in collaboration with Dr Yitades Gebre, PAHO/WHO Representative (PWR), Dr Rufus Ewing, Advisor Health Systems and Services and Dr Karen Polson, Advisor Climate Change and Environmental Determinants for Health.
“The coronavirus is a worldwide crisis and we at the CDB are not going to be isolated from the crisis” said Dr Smith. He noted the briefing was very important as they needed to understand what is happening, especially since they host many meetings and travel significantly.
Before commencing with the presentation Dr Rwangabwoba lauded the management of CDB for the care shown to staff, noting that to be successful as business institutions there is a need to make sure that the workforce is well looked after. “There is no business or success of any institution without a strong and healthy workforce,” he said.
Dr Rwangabwoba presented on the current situation of the virus, globally, in China, outside China and the region of the Americas. Geographical maps representing the spread of the virus and statistics from both PAHO and WHO respectively, were shown. He also outlined the mode of transmission and surveillance and advise on international travel and trade.
Dr Rufus Ewing spoke on the clinical features and management of the virus, measures to interrupt spread of the infection, and preparedness and response.
Risk communication and community engagement including how to manage “infodemics “ which is an overabundance of information, some accurate and some not making it difficult for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance needed, myth busters, protective measures, how to stay healthy while traveling and prevention of COVID-19 in the workplace were some of the topics covered by Dr Karen Polson.
A very interactive questions and answers session followed the presentation which was well received by staff. There were questions on how COVID-19 testing is done, capacity of countries to conduct testing, given rapid changes in the situation concern as to the timely updating of travel advisories, myths on ethnicity and possibility of reinfection, and effects of climate change on spread of the virus.
In closing Dr Smith thanked the PAHO/WHO team for the briefing session and CDB colleagues for their attendance and active participation.
