Hurricane Season in Times of Covid: CARICOM’s Latest Challenge

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders on Monday discussed proposals for dealing with the possibility of responding to a hurricane within the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat.

According to the Caribbean National Weekly, the leaders at their 11th Special Meeting held by video conference on Monday “recognised that such an occurrence would add a significant layer of complexity and would have an impact on regional response efforts”.

The Secretariat said that the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) made presentations to the meeting which was presided over by St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves,, who is also the chairman of the 15-member grouping.

It said that the regional leaders also stressed the “need for continued vigilance of the Health and Border Authorities to prevent more importation of new cases of COVID-19.

The statement said that the leaders have since mandated CARPHA to prepare a framework for the protocols to operate a bubble within the region to facilitate travel and boost domestic tourism.