A US$5 million loan which Guyana has requested from the World Bank to tackle the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is currently being processed and this country is optimistic that it will get the needed monies.
Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence on Thursday said that this country has a total of five confirmed cases, inclusive of one death.
“[The] World Bank loan is in process,” Public Relations official of the Ministry of Finance, Wanita Huburn said on behalf of Minister of Finance Winston Jordan yesterday.
During an interview on the state-owned National Commu-nications Network (NCN) on Thursday, Jordan had announced that this country had sought a US$5 million loan from the World Bank to implement measures for tackling the virus which has already had a devastating global impact and continues to spread.
“We have already sent a request to the World Bank to access funding under their (the bank’s) Rapid Response Facility and we know the request is being considered,” said Jordan during the interview with NCN.
“We do not know if it will do, but let us say it is an initial request…if it (COVID-19) gets out of hand, we will see if to make another request,” he said.
The Minister has not disclosed what could be the possible terms of the proposed loan or when this country expects the processing of the request to be completed.
However, this newspaper was told by a source close to the process that this country is optimistic that the World Bank would give the needed funds as it was for a health emergency.
President David Granger has approved a range of measures to tackle the disease, which includes empowering the Minis-ter of Finance to expend from the Consolidated Fund such sums as may be necessary for the effective carrying out of any or all of a number of measures he instituted.
The Minister of Finance has said that the Ministry of Public Health will be responsible for the programmes which the monies will fund but the ministry has not yet said what plans it has.
There have been public calls for the distribution of sanitizing items to the poor and the temporary removal of the Value Added Tax on such items.
Among President Granger’s measures are mandatory quarantine for those infected or exposed to the disease and the destruction of personal items exposed to infection from the disease, among other actions.
The president, in an extraordinary publication of the Official Gazette dated March 16, cited constitutional provisions that provide for the taking of such measures. It was noted too that COVID-19 constitutes an emergency that threatens national security which requires a national response. It was also pointed out that the World Health Organization has declared the disease a pandemic. Accordingly, the publication said that the president considers that immediate action is necessary to address COVID-19.
In accordance with the Public Health Ordinance and international standards to prevent and control the spread of the disease, the president has empowered Minister Lawrence to undertake a series of measures.
Among these are that the Minister of Public Health shall take measures to “restrain, segregate and isolate persons suffering from the disease, or who may be likely from exposure to the infection suffer from the disease.” The minister can also move persons suffering from the disease to the hospital and provide treatment.
Additionally, the minister is empowered to “remove, disinfect, and destroy the personal effects, goods, buildings and any other article, material or thing exposed to infection from the disease.”
The minister shall also make decisions about the speedy burial or cremation of the dead; facilitate house-to-house visitation and inspection; facilitate the provision of medical aid and accommodation; and promote cleanliness, ventilation and disinfection. The minister can also take measures to “prevent the spread of the disease on the seas, rivers, and waters of Guyana, and on the high seas within twelve miles from baseline and well as on land.”
Further, the minister is empowered to take measures to “diagnose, prevent or check the disease, including the prohibition or restriction of movement of persons and public and private conveyances of any kind whatsoever within and to and from an infected area” and take any other measures considered necessary.
The public health minister may call upon the police and other law enforcement agencies to provide assistance with the enforcement of the aforementioned measures if necessary.
Meanwhile, the president has also directed that the Education and Citizenship ministers take “all measures to control and prevent the spread of COVID-19” in Guyana.
