THE Regional Health Department in Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice) is assuring  residents in the vicinity of the COVID-19 quarantine  centre established at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice , that the centre poses no threat to the public.

Residents in the area had expressed fears about contamination. Regional Health Officer, Dr. Desmond Nicholson, clarified: “The quarantine centre is not a holding place for persons who are sick.”

He said: “I wish to make it clear that persons who are placed in quarantine are not ill.  No one exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 will be sent to the centre at Bath Settlement. He stressed too that if anyone at the centre exhibits symptoms during quarantine, they will be immediately clinically assessed and immediately transferred to the isolation centres in Region Four. He noted also that the closest residence is about 50-60 feet away from the quarantine centre.

He said, “The virus is capable of travelling three feet. In optimal conditions it will travel six feet. So if we are looking at six feet as against another 46 feet of travel, we believe that based on our assessment, the assessment of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and the Ministry of Communities (MOC),  that there is no danger posed to the residents of Experiment by having that facility there.”

Additionally, the  entire compound of the centre is fenced; Staff have been trained to observe  all the protocols established to ensure public safety and there is and will be a 24/7 police presence  on site.  There have been no confirmed cases of COVID 19 cases in Region Five to date.