UNC calls for calm as T&T’s first Covid-19 case is confirmed

United National Congress

The United National Congress is calling for calm and urging citizens to follow the guidelines of public health officials in taking steps to protect themselves and their families, in light of the announcement of the presence of the first case of Covid-19 virus in Trinidad and Tobago.

The party is, however, extremely concerned over the very lethargic response to the Covid-19 global pandemic. The Rowley regime ignored ample calls to treat the matter as urgent and to take proactive measures. True to form the Government buried its head in the sand, ignoring the risks, and are now scrambling to put measures in place to deal with it.

This latest announcement of a confirmed case of Covid-19 shows how futile the present Rowley Government’s attempts have been at keeping our nation safe. Our citizens’ safety and security have been compromised once again by this failed administration and their lacklustre approaches to matters of national and global importance.

The Minister of Health has again shown his incompetence and lack of care for the health and safety of citizens. The Opposition repeatedly urged the Government to take proactive measures, all of which fell on deaf ears, with the Minister repeatedly downplaying the threat. Several urgent matters of definite urgent importance on Covid-19 were raised by the Opposition to discuss the Government’s preparedness but these were denied, and we were accused of being alarmist.

Given this administration’s track record of failure and incompetence in every sector, we have no confidence in their ability to manage this issue. There is no doubt that if this situation was better managed by the Government from the onset, we would have still been without any Covid-19 cases within our nation today.

The United National Congress will support all efforts to curb the spread of this virus, and to assist where we can. For our part, the UNC has taken a decision to postpone our Monday Night Forums until further notice.

We urge citizens to take heed of the advisories issued by the authorities and to take precautions, but to desist from panicking.

Let us be responsible, and each do our part to ensure that the virus is contained.