Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 22, 2020 (ZIZ News): Prime Minister Dr. The Hon. Timothy Harris has hailed the strength of the national health sector as the nation battles the spread of COVID-19.
He was at the time being interviewed by BBC World News on Wednesday where he spoke of the state of the nation, particularly the health sector.
Cue in: “At this point, we’re at the strongest position,” he said. “We have adequate ventilators for this particular period of time. We have been able to invest in ventilators so as we speak today we have about six times the stock that we had before the arrival of COVID in St. Kitts and Nevis. Our health system is not being overwhelmed and the reason is we took strong measures early and we prepared well for this.”
He went on to say that although the economy has been impacted the government had put plans in place to reduce the damage done.
Cue in: “The economic impact on St. Kitts and Nevis has been as severe as it is for the rest of the world,” he said “Tourism is a large but not the only segment of the economy and in that regard, we have had a significant loss of jobs. However, because we have been managing the country well we developed a significant financial surplus and we were able therefore to do a stimulus in the region of 120 million dollars targetting the victims of COVID-19 and setting a framework to get the country back to work soonest”
He said the government is doing all in its power to get the federation ready for when the world is ready for engagement as our primary markets such as the US and UK are in a crisis situation.