Health teams monitoring regions for waterborne illnesses -Dr. Anthony

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony says health teams have been dispatched across the regions to monitor for any instance of waterborne diseases, as sections of the country remain inundated.

During Tuesday’s COVID-19 update, Minister Anthony said except for some isolated cases of skin rashes, there have been no reported outbreaks of flood-related illnesses.

“In Region One, they have been constantly monitoring. From the reports that I have had this morning they have not had any outbreaks of anything. Same goes for Region Seven, Eight and Nine,” he said.

Dr. Anthony said the team will revisit Region Two to conduct further assessments on the operations of health facilities.

“In Region Two, we have an outreach team that is going into the Pomeroon today just to go back and do some checks to see if there is anything that they need to look at.

The team has been there before. They are going back in again today, and in addition to monitoring for waterborne diseases they would also be doing vaccinations in the Pomeroon.”

President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Monday conducted an evaluation of health facilities in the Pomeroon after he was informed of a drug shortage at the Hackney health centre.

Meanwhile, the Ministry has been closely monitoring Regions Five and Six, which continue to experience high water levels. The Mahaica and Mahaicony creeks are also under watch. Minister Anthony said teams have returned to the communities to further assess the situation and provide care wherever needed.

Flooding in Jawalla, Region Seven

“We have been doing a couple of things through the regional system, we have skin ointments or ointments for rashes and so forth.

We have been distributing that to the various communities. We have also been giving out bleach so that people can use that to purify their water supply,” he said.

Teams have also been on the lookout for diarrhoeal diseases. The Ministry has already distributed oral rehydration salts (ORS) to treat this illness. Minister Anthony reiterated that there are adequate supplies of medicines to treat any possible outbreak.

He is also urging citizens to be proactive and ensure their water is properly treated before use. The public is also encouraged to remain vigilant and to avoid the flood waters as much as possible.