Gov’t ably managing the economy’s reopening

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has said the Government has been effectively handling the reopening of the economy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The Administration’s capacity has been bolstered over the last three months by adequate resources and services.

“Capability has grown exponentially. Still not perfect because nobody has a cure, but we have now, more materials from the drugs, the frontline drugs. Testing has gone up enormously and then we are expanding the emergency rooms and beds to ensure we can deal with larger number of cases,” Dr. Jagdeo said at his press briefing on Friday.

The Government started the gradual reopening of country earlier this month, reducing the curfew hours and reopening the two international airports. Dr Jagdeo said the Government understands the risks, but is confident the country is prepared. 

“In the last three months, the key issues have been [about] dealing with trying to reopen the economy. We talked to people everywhere not just businesses, but ordinary people who said they needed to go back to work. People who ran out of money and do not have a safety net and need to get back to work.”

The Government continues to make investments in the fight against COVID-19. The Vice President said there have been engagements with the Inter-American Development bank and the World Bank to redirect some funds to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Dr Jagdeo said the $25,000 relief cash grant distribution is moving smoothly. Most of the far-flung regions have already been served and the programme will soon be rolled out in coastal regions.

“The feedback has been good; it has been helping people. It’s a small sum of money, but it has been helpful to a lot of people. And this is a large-scale task to go to every home in the country, especially in this time.”

The ‘pink’ query form arrangement is also working well. Persons living in multiple family homes have been co-operating, the VP said.