September 27, 2021 – Prime Minister, Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, continued his outreach to friendly countries during the past week, seeking assistance for Grenada’s continued fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The rising number of cases has created a strain on the healthcare system and has also resulted in nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers, having to work extended shifts as they care for the increased number of hospitalised persons.

The island’s most pressing needs include additional medical personnel, a field hospital, personal protective equipment and other medical supplies used in the care of COVID-19 patients.

The Prime Minister met with the Chinese Ambassador to Grenada, His Excellency Wei Hongtian, on Friday, to seek COVID-related support.

He said, “The situation is serious, we need a team of doctors and nurses who can come to Grenada for a few weeks to provide much-needed support to our own professionals, who have been working long hours, attending to the growing number of patients. Given the infectious nature of this disease, we also need to ensure that we have additional supplies of PPE, as the medical team uses multiple sets of these on any given day.”

The Prime Minister also had a call with the United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Linda Taglialatela last week.

In that conversation, Dr. Mitchell underscored the urgency of a field hospital which would be able to accommodate more COVID-19 patients and reduce the need to use wards designed for the general care of patients, some of which have had to be converted given the rise in hospitalisations.

Both the People’s Republic of China and the United States have given assurances that they would provide whatever assistance they can to help Grenada navigate the current crisis. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also dispatched letters seeking assistance from a number of other friendly countries.