The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A TEAM of nurses and doctors was sent to Inagua yesterday to start the necessary health screening of nearly 400 migrants captured in waters near Cay Sal over the weekend, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said yesterday.

Dr Darville told reporters health officials are working in tandem with various ministries for the operation and wanted to test and screen migrants to limit the possibility of imported infections.

“For us at the Ministry of Health, we’re concerned with the possibility of any infectious disease,” Dr Darville said before going to a Cabinet meeting.

“We have en route, a field hospital for Inagua. It’s a 20-bed field hospital and this morning at 10 o’clock, I have a team of five nurses and three doctors who will be enroute to Inagua to begin the necessary screening processes.

 “While that is happening, we will be looking at the current medical clinic in Inagua, because there is some need for some infrastructure upgrades. So, I have a group of engineers who will be enrolled as well.”

 Dr Darville said setting up a field hospital on the island was “absolutely essential” to ensure that the island’s healthcare system does not become strained.

 He could not speak to the costs of setting up the field hospital.

 He said: “After speaking with the Minister of Immigration, we (are) really beginning to realise that what we are experiencing now may be something that may explode, and we intend to ensure that we do not put an excessive burden on the healthcare system and Inagua.”

 Dr Darville also gave an assurance that officials have a plan of action to respond to any potential outbreak like cholera cases, which have resurged in Haiti since last year.

 “We have been planning. Our job at the ministry and our surveillance infectious disease unit is to make sure that we are prepared for any potential outbreak. We’re hoping and praying that that’s not the case and from my understanding, I believe those individuals that are coming to Inagua are on the US Cutter.

 “They have the facilities there. So, I think in this particular case, we are okay, but we need to prepare because we don’t know what’s ahead of us and what is gonna happen and Inagua will be one of those areas that would be utilised for screening.

 “And we are working very closely with immigration and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force to ensure that (the Ministry of) Health is able to function effectively and to be able to do all the necessary protocols to protect the residents and The Bahamas at large.”

 In a statement released on Monday, the Department of Immigration said they were alerted by the US Coast Guard of a vessel carrying 396 migrants in the vicinity of Cay Sal.

 The immigrants were handed over to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and sent to Inagua for processing.

 Their illegal travel to The Bahamas comes as civil unrest and political turmoil continues to mount in Haiti.

 Local government officials have already warned that more Haitian migrants could arrive in the country in the days and weeks ahead, saying they remain on high alert.