Prime Minister Gaston Browne has been explaining why local COVID-19 testing has not taken place in Antigua & Barbuda despite having the medical equipment in place for sometime now.
“My understanding is that they now have some practical training to do but that is predicated on what they call the application training that has to take place by the individuals who supplied the PCI machine,” Browne told radio listeners over the weekend.
Health officials are reporting no new cases of COVID-19 but members of the public say this is because tests are not being done.
In responding to critics, the prime minister said “about a week and a half ago, we awaited for a specialist out of Trinidad and Tobago who we had to fly up here on a special charter, to validate the PCI equipment and that was done.”
He said the application test which remains to be done now requires another expert.
“Now there is another entity abroad that has to deal with the application training and I was told by Dr Simon that the application training would be completed by Tuesday and that Dr Gresh, who is assisting with the actual hands on training of testing physical COVID patients, that would commence maybe Thursday, Friday.”
The prime minister is calling on residents to remain patient since these are not ordinary times.
“So we keep our fingers crossed and hope that nothing goes wrong. You have to understand that during this crisis, supply chains have been disrupted, and scheduling experts is extremely difficult because they are supplying these services all over the world,” he said.
Browne assured the public that the health officials are not incompetent nor do they have any reason to sabotage “the reality is they just have to wait for the time lines as established by these experts.”
The prime minister says by the weekend testing will be increased to get a better idea of the number of people with COVID-19.
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Oh my! What a failed experiment on the people of Antigua & Barbuda. Your health minister is the chairperson of the Caricom committee on Covid 19 taskforce, so while he doing Photo Ops with Barbados PM she and other Caricom countries ordering test kits and doing training . What a shame on this economic powerhouse…….sorry poorhouse. Bunch of inept a**h***s.
What is Dominica doing that we are not doing? I heard that they will be doing their own testing soon. Come on economic powerhouse Top Dawg PM, we can do this.
It is time that we start to look into cross training our Caribbean people. From the start of this coronavirus, we should have already sent one or two of our lab technicians to Trinidad or Jamaica for training.
Guy Antigua, Grenada, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Montserrat are yet implement local testing. The only exceptions are SKN, Dominica and St. Lucia. Fact is the latter country started late last month and has had to stop and then start again. Most nations even the mightiest have had testing snags. Y
You are one sick individual.
Why can’t we get our act together? After more than three weeks of curfew and lockdown is this the best excuse that Gaston Browne can come up with? Training?
How is it that the other OECS countries have set up their own local testing and we can’t get our act together. I smell a rat. Something is not quite right. There is more in the mortar than the pestle.
Try and be truthful. Grenada, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Montserrat are yet implement local testing. The only exceptions are SKN, Dominica and St. Lucia. Fact is the latter country started late last month (28th)and has had to stop and then start again. Most nations even the mightiest have had testing snags. Looks like we are on for the end of this week. By the way you do know these tests have been noted as having a 30% failure rate? Perhaps we are better just continuing to quarantine those suspected of being exposed. Thing is even with a negative and yet there are symptoms the decision tends to be to assume positive and quarantine
yet to implement
‘Maybe ThursdayFriday’!!!!
Wait, is it me or should some heads start to roll!
Barbados has been testing since FebruaryMarch!!!
Four caribbean islands received application training since then (ANR ran the story)!
There is a GENE EXPERT machine at the lab, why wasnt it updated since FebruaryMarch and used!!!
This explanation is unacceptable. How many times did we see dunlab and msjlab personnel at margetson! How many photos did we see of a halfdone margetson.
Heads need to roll!!!!!
Awesome course of expression. Keep it up!
As usual another timeline extention again. Wasn’t everything was to be ready 2 weeks ago then change to last week, now we reading by weekend it will be ready. Wait a so dunce this PM think ANU ppl be.
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