While addressing the press conference of the Ministry of Health on Tuesday 21, Director of Primary Health in Dominica, Dr.Laura Esprit,   said that the frontline workers, authorities and the general public deserve commendation for the effectiveness with which the COVID-19 pandemic has been handled so far. However, she cautions that we must not let the fact that it has been 14 days since the country reported its 16th positive COVID-19 case to mislead us into believing that we are out of the woods. She said that this is exactly the kind of misleading environment which will allow this virus to thrive.

According to the doctor, if we claim to be a God fearing nation, then we ought to love our neighbor and respect life. Then those who are disobeying the curfew order by having parties or locking themselves in shops or bars while they sit around playing dominoes and thinking that they’re outsmarting the police, are not loving their neighbor or respecting life. Further, people who engage in such acts need to be mindful of the increased risk they are causing to already overworked frontline workers.

Dr. Esprit also cautioned about those who are harboring individuals who are entering the country illegally. She said that while we understand the plight of students who are overseas and workers on cruise ships, we should not shelter them if they are not entering the country through approved ports of entries but rather we should report them to the authorities.

According to Dr. Esprit, we must guard against complacency in the midst of this pandemic as we are well aware how 1 case can spread swiftly through a community. Our health, she said, remains our primary responsibility and not that of the health officials.