Antigua and Barbuda Health Ministry reports 0 monkeypox case, announces cabinet

Antigua and Barbuda: The Health Ministry reported that not a single case of monkeypox had been found in the country. Several suspicious patients were tested, and they have all proved negative thus far; one more test case remains to be reported, but that too is likely to prove negative. The Cabinet did not approve a pending proposal to purchase monkey pox vaccines at the urging of the Health Minister.

-The Minister of the Environment proposed to Cabinet the recycling of plastics, including the ubiquitous drinking water bottle, by constructing a recycling plant. The Cabinet approved the proposal. The plant would turn the discarded plastics into several products that can be utilized in Antigua and Barbuda and even exported to other Caribbean islands.

-The Directors of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and the Central Board of Health (CBH) were invited to Cabinet, along with six additional technicians, to address the overgrowth in grasses and unwanted vegetation along busy highways and secondary roads. The end of the national solid waste clean-up campaign is over; more than 2,500 derelict vehicles were removed from the streets of Antigua during the period.

-Deploying personnel in a manner intended to address the overgrown bushes that now pose a health challenge and are unsightly is henceforth undergoing fundamental re-examination to maximize effectiveness. The Cabinet and the Ministry of Health agreed to regularize the contracts, make regular payments, and provide more supervisory control to ensure that the teams spend the time contractually agreed. The teams are also to interact with the representatives of the areas to ensure that priority areas are addressed. The rainy season poses special challenges to grass cutting and removal.

-The CBH also addressed the challenge posed by the shrinkage of burial spaces for the dead, especially those who are residents in the City of St John’s. Throughout Antigua and Barbuda, about 600 people die each year. Very few are cremated; the overwhelming majority are buried. The Cabinet agreed to bring all private landowners’ burial grounds under full control of the Government/CBH. The new cemetery at Tomlinson’s will be brought into use sometime next year.