It has never been nor is it the Public Services Association’s (PSA) intention to pressure government into cancelling carnival 2015 regarding concerns over this country’s Ebola preparedness. However, PSA president Watson Duke is warning that the discussion could still take place if it becomes necessary. Responding to questions during a press conference at PSA’s head office, Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, Duke stressed:
“It was never our intent to stop Carnival. My plans are hoping that everyone has a good Carnival.” Asked whether he thought T&T was adequately prepared for an Ebola outbreak, Duke replied; “I have not been updated within recent times. There seems to be a level of hush-hush on information.
“I had been reading and seeing what’s happening in the world but what seems to be taking place in T&T seems to be hush-hush as if all the organs that have been created have been dismantled. You are not hearing anything.” The PSA was invited to participate in the stakeholder discussions as various government agencies came together to devise a plan to address Ebola.
During a protest outside the Caura Hospital last month, Duke expressed concerns that Government was not ready and that the facilities set aside to house suspected Ebola patients were inadequate. Duke said the PSA was particularly concerned that the Ebola virus could spread easily and rapidly, due to the high concentration of bodies in contact with one another for the two-day festivities.
Ebola spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact. This includes through broken skin or mucous membranes with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials like bedding or clothing contaminated with these fluids. He said during Carnival, people could be found urinating and vomiting on the streets and trees, as well as along designated routes which were heavily traversed by both adults and children.