Citizens must take responsibility to ensure their surroundings are clean and do not have any mosquito-breeding grounds, says Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.
During a tour of Bagatelle, Diego Martin, the minister saw, first-hand, derelict vehicles infested with mosquitoes and mosquito larvae in plant containers.
“It is better your plants die than your unborn baby die, make the choice,” Deyalsingh urged, as pregnant women face serious risk from the virus which has also been linked to microcephaly—a rare but brutal condition that shrinks the brains of unborn babies.
On Friday, the minister declared the Zika virus a national health emergency and on Monday the World Health Organization said the virus was spreading rapidly and was now a global public health emergency.
“You are seeing the best of what T&T has to offer during times of crisis. We will face this crisis of Zika and at the end of the day, we will come out better and stronger,” Deyalsingh told reporters, before the start of the two-hour tour.
Several agencies including the Defence Force, working alongside the 14 regional corporations, the Insect Vector Control Division and the Police Service, have teamed up to eradicate breeding sites for the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Hopeful that this partnership will result in an elevated environmental consciousness never before seen in this country, Deyalsingh said, if people were honest, they would agree that “we are a dirty people.”
In an attempt to get residents started, Deyalsingh launched the trial run of the national response plan at Bagatelle, Diego Martin, by distributing education leaflets and handing out mosquito swatters and insect-repellant hand-bands.
The minister toured Savannah Terrace No 1, where he entered several properties and inspected clogged drains, examined containers that offered favourable breeding sites for mosquitoes, viewed poorly set-up water tanks and even came upon a derelict vehicle that contained mosquitoes.
At the Bagatelle/Blue Basin Youth Club, Deyalsingh up-ended two plant saucers and pointed to mosquito larvae as he joked, “Look at them swimming like George Bovell,” adding, “That one doing the backstroke” and another “doing the freestyle.”
To all expectant mothers, Deyalsingh issued sombre advice as he urged them to wear long clothes and socks, use insect repellants and mosquito nets, and to avoid large crowds.
Asked if residents who refused to clean up their premises could not be fined, Deyalsingh admitted that he had asked the Attorney General to “look at the yellow fever regulations under the Public Health Ordinance to see if we can start to do some of those things because apparently people don’t learn until you impose some big heavy fine on them.”
Even though some spraying was done yesterday, the minister said the insecticide malathion which was being used could not be used daily as residents would become affected and mosquitoes could build up a resistance.
Warning that it was almost impossible to prevent the virus from arriving in this country as the world was now a global village, Deyalsingh said people had to take steps to avoid being bitten.
He also said most people who might contract the virus would not need to be hospitalised, as four out of five citizens who contracted Zika would be asymptomatic, that is, they would not display any symptoms.
He said the virus could be brought into the country by an infected person who, after being bitten by a virgin mosquito, could transmit it to others locally—as well as via trade involving tyres and other items packed in shipping containers.