The St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce continued its policy of regular engagement with its members on critical issues of interest and concern, by hosting a Discussion Forum between Members and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sharon Belmar George, on Thursday January 27th2022. The Forum focused on the current state of the Covid-19 pandemic and the new protocols issued by the Ministry of Health Wellness and Elderly Affairs.
Dr. Belmar-George was joined by National Epidemiologist Dr. Michelle Francois-D’Auvergne both of whom gave a detailed overview of the progress and state of the pandemic as well as a comprehensive presentation and explanation of the new protocols for Isolation and Quarantine. The Forum was called in light of the many concerns of members regarding the approach businesses needed to employ, at this time when the number of people being treated with Covid-19 was at an extremely high level. Numerous Members had reported that their operations were being negatively affected by the high level of absenteeism they were experiencing.
This Membership Engagement event was organized exclusively for the membership of the Chamber in response to their specific requests for information and clarification of critical issues. Of particular note was that the “discharge letters” will be discontinued and the process to be followed was outlined in detail to members. Additionally, the “Revised Quarantine and Isolation Protocols” issued by the Ministry were explained in detail and several queries from members addressed.
Of great interest and welcomed by Chamber Members was that soon the business community will be permitted to import and distribute testing kits increasing the availability of testing to citizens. The Chamber has urged its members to familiarize their teams with the updated information that is accessible on their website.
The Chamber thanked the CMO for her longstanding and continuing willingness to make herself available to dialogue with the business community on this critical subject and pledged to share the information with its members and the wider business community and continue to work constructively with the Government as the nation combats the Covid-19 pandemic.