NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (September 17, 2020) — As Nevis continues to prepare for the further opening of St. Kitts and Nevis borders, Nevis COVID-19 Task Force, in collaboration with the Ministries of Health and Tourism in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), continues to engage the tourism and travel related sectors and health workers.
Dr. Judy Nisbett, Chair of the Nevis COVID-19 Task Force at the Nevis COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Briefing on September 14, at Long Point spoke of the efforts to ensure continuous training in the sectors as the island continues to prepare for the border opening.
“To ensure that training continues at the level of the individual businesses the Ministries of Health and Tourism were not comfortable just having sensitization sessions and now, as of today, embarked on a Trainer of Trainers workshop for persons from each business…
“The idea is that these persons with advanced, hands-on training can now go back to their institutions/workplaces and conduct continuous training sessions with their staff, and continuous monitoring and evaluation within their operations,” she said.
Dr. Nisbett noted that in addition the Compliance Task Force, an arm of the Nevis COVID-19 Task Force, has also been visiting tourism related entities in operation, to ensure that the COVID-19 protocols are in place and are being adhered to.
In relation to health, the Task Force Chair explained how the Ministry of Health intends to move forward with training in preparation for the reopening.
“The Ministry of Health intends to target frontline workers at the Ports next for Trainer of Trainer sessions, so that they too can be prepared to safely operate at our borders once the borders are opened to commercial flights and sea traffic,” she said.
The task force has also visited the Vance W. Amory International Airport to discuss any changes or improvements that may be needed to be done by the Nevis Air and Sea Ports Authority (NASPA) in preparation for opening to commercial flights.
Dr. Nisbett assured that the public would be kept abreast of the changes as they take place at the ports.
Prior to dealing with those sectors, the task force had engaged in preparing the Education sector ahead of the reopening of schools for the 2020/2021 academic year which commenced on September 07, 2020.
“The teachers and support staff of the Education sector have been exposed to training prior to the opening of schools. The compliance team has visited all schools, nurseries, preschools, primary and secondary schools, with only one left to be completed this week, to ensure that the COVID-19 protocols are being adhered to.
“These visits will continue to ensure that the schools are adhering to all protocols and keeping the nation’s children safe,” Dr. Nisbett said.