TCI National Security Council (NSC) Meeting: COVID-19
His Excellency the Governor, Nigel Dakin, and the Hon. Premier, co-chaired a meeting of the TCI NSC on 2 March 2020, at the Governor’s Office, Providenciales.
In attendance as members of the NSC were the Hon. Deputy Governor, Hon. Deputy Premier, Attorney General and Commissioner of Police. Also in attendance as invited guest were the Hon. Minister of Health, Hon. Minister of Tourism, the National Security Strategy lead, officials from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism, Inter-Health Canada and Public Health England.
At this meeting the NSC were:
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updated from the Ministry of Health that there are currently no suspected and/or confirmed cases of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) within the Turks and Caicos Islands
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updated on the global statistics for COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) including confirmed cases in the Caribbean region, specifically the Dominican Republic, St. Bart’s and St. Martin as well as confirmed cases in Florida
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updated on the Ministry of Health’s effort to identify a swiftest route for laboratory testing
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updated on specific advice from Public Health England and the Ministry of Health as set out in recent public notices
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updated on the current reporting requirement by cruise ships prior to arrival in TCI and took a decision to deny entry to any cruise ship that has a suspected case of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus)
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updated on plans to streamline the current screening process at the Providenciales International Airport (including Fixed Based Operators)
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updated on Cabinet approval for Contingency Funding for the Ministry of Health, and agreed to fast track the recruitment of additional staff for surveillance and screening
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updated by the Ministry of Health and Inter-Health Canada on the protocols in place to prevent and/or reduce community transmission of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) including quarantine
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updated on plans to engage the National Security Advisory Group and other critical key stakeholders in the public and private sector
Finally, the NSC agreed a series of key actions for officials to report back in the coming days and for the NSC to meet weekly on the issue of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) for the foreseeable future.