PAHO director reveal Americas was informed of pandemic on January 14, 2020

Prime Minister of Dominica,- Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit, addressed his country's people through the second season of his national broadcast show, "Anou Pale."

Prime Minister Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit was joined by the director of PAHO through a video calling from Washington, United States.

Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), who herself is a Dominican, discussed the state of health care in the Americas. She is also Regional Director for the Americas of the World Health Organization and earlier served as the Director of Primary Healthcare in Dominica.

Dr. Etienne stated that PAHO was informed of a virus capable of becoming a pandemic in January 2020. She noted that soon after WHO's information, a plan was laid up and reviewed to safeguard the people from the contagious disease.

"On January 14, 2020, I sent a letter to all member states informing them about the possibility of the pandemic. I sent it to heads of states and ministers of health." added the PAHO Director.

Dr. Etienne revealed that soon after informing the member states, she sent out some technical teams to work with those countries to prepare their health services about managing the crisis.

"By the end of February 2020, every country in the region of the Americas to have access to COVID-19 testing kits," added Dr. Etienne.

Furthermore, she noted that the Americas was the first region with 100% access to testing kits for coronavirus.

"PAHO trained, provided information, technology, and capacity building to ensure that all member states were ready." asserted the PAHO director.

Besides this, the Director Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) stated that the organization mobilized $263 million to work with member states in 2020 efficiently.

Speaking about the new variant of the Coronavirus, she advised that everyone needs to be extremely vigilant and continue public health measures. She asserted that PAHO does not advocate nations to go into total lockdowns but it is require all to be careful and determined.

Nevertheless, she mentioned that working as the Director of Primary Healthcare in Dominica was the best time of her career and stated, she learned several lessons that served her well in the continuance of career development.