CARICOM Heads to hold important meeting in Barbados on COVID-19

Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Prime Minister Mia Mottley, will host a special meeting in Barbados tomorrow, Sunday, March 1, to discuss ways of protecting the region from COVID-19.

The meeting will take place in the Frangipani room at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, beginning at 12 noon.

It will bring together some Heads of Government, Caribbean Ministers of Health and their chief medical officers, representatives from the Pan American Health Organization, the Caribbean Public Health Agency, the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

The decision to hold the special meeting was taken by Mottley following consultations with outgoing CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet of St Lucia, after both leaders participated in two emergency meetings on Wednesday, February 26, and Friday, February 28, of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) and Chief Medical Officers on COVID-19, via video conference.

When they meet in Barbados, Caribbean leaders will consider a recommendation from the COHSOD Working group on regional coordination for management of the virus and other infectious diseases on passenger ships.

Chief executive officers of cruise lines and airlines servicing the region will be invited to participate in the special session.

A press conference will follow.