And, while Manzanero spoke about the current state of the hospitals which are at peak capacity, his Minister, Michel Chebat, spoke about the state of COVID readiness that he found the Ministry in. He painted a dismal picture:…
Hon. Michel Chebat - Minister of Health "Currently there is a backlog of approximately 2,182 PCRs at the central lab waiting to be processed. People being tested are not being given their results in time. This has contributed to the spread of COVID. Despite a clear offer from BAHA and the IAEA in April to assist with PCR testing to the MOH, this offer was not taken up. Our government hospitals are not fully ready to deal with a surge in cases should the need arise, this is despite the fact that the MOH had ample time to rectify and address these gaps. The Ministry of Finance reduced the budget for all ministries including MOH by 40% and this is despite the fact that MOH is required to respond to the pandemic. Overtime for health care workers was cut, there were restriction place on the hiring of staff, there are limited masks and PPEs for health care workers."
