Caribbean regional task force established to tackle COVID-19

The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) says it has formed a multi-sectoral task force to facilitate cooperative action aimed at preventing the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and preparing for a different regional future after the pandemic.

The 35-member ACS grouping, said that the task force will include doctors and public health officials from 15 countries around the Greater Caribbean.

“Let us forget political considerations, ideological considerations, racial and ethnic differences. Let them fade into the background. The only thing that matters now is that we come together to save the lives of our people. Nothing takes precedence over that at this point in time,” said Barbados Ambassador to the ACS, David Commissiong, representing Barbados Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Jerome Walcott, who is the Chair of the ACS Ministerial Council.

Health and development experts met virtually at the first regional technical meeting of ACS members on COVID-19 following the mandate by their ministers of foreign affairs and health in March.

A statement issued by the ACS on Monday said that the technical task force discussed the pandemic in the context of health and risk management, “but also deliberated on social and economic impact of the virus on the region and how to transform this shared experience into a lesson in regional resilience.”

It said during the meeting, the delegates benefited from the Cuban delegation, which shared its experiences treating COVID-positive patients.

As a region, the ACS member countries have recorded nearly 30,000 cases of the virus for which there is no cure or vaccine.

ACS Secretary General, June Soomer, has stressed the importance of looking after vulnerable groups and building resilience in such critical areas as food security, transport and tourism as a result of the pandemic.

“We have to use this opportunity to build more equitable societies as we address social and economic recovery as such renewal cannot be under the current parameters that do not give access to resources to more countries and to more citizens,” she added. – (CMC)