Minister Not Saying if Community Spread in Midway

Michel Chebat

So, as you just heard, Minister Michel Chebat says that the cases were detected not just among family members but among other villagers. One of the concerns at this time is the use of public buses to move through the villages. So with twenty-five cases in that community, does this classify as community spread? That’s what we asked the Minister of Health and Wellness.

Andrea Polanco

“Minister are you able to classify if this spread is community spread?”

Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness

“At this time it is difficult to say. It is still very much limited to Midway village and like I said we still have the results of some tests pending and once the results are in then the epi team will be able to make that decision.”

Andrea Polanco

“Are you able to say if those confirmed cases are just among relatives of some families?”

Michel Chebat

“It started with the index case of that family but it spread to other members of the community; twenty-five persons of that community have it but we don’t want to say yet it is a community spread at this time so we are waiting for the results of those tests.”

Andrea Polanco

“Minister are you able to say if that spread happened in a public space; maybe they go to the same church or they shop at the same store?”

Michel Chebat

“That is the concern we have now and that is why we are looking at additional measures in relation to midway village and a decision will be made on that shortly.”

Reporter

“It appears they use the same bus and it goes all through different villages until it gets out to the highway and continues to PG?”

Michel Chebat

“That is a big concern for us, public transportation is a big concern and we are aware of this situation of the bus that goes through the villages and when our public health inspectors were down there they saw this bus moving around and they reported that most of the people weren’t wearing a mask.”

According to Minister Chebat, they have one recorded case of COVID-19 in neighboring village of Conejo in Toledo.