There are no COVID-19 outbreaks at any of the Licensing Divisions throughout the country.
Transport Commissioner Clive Clarke on Tuesday dismissed such rumours, which he said was tantamount to mischief by some who may not want to work.
Contacted about claims that an outbreak had been reported at the Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain Division, Clarke said, “That is news to me.”
He added, “I have no information on any outbreaks at any sites.”
He assured that strict reporting protocols had been implemented by the Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT) regarding positive and suspected cases of COVID-19 within any of the divisions.
Clarke said, “One weekend we are hearing there is a COVID outbreak in San Fernando…then an outbreak at Wrightson Road at another time but when we check, that information is simply not true.”
Any positive or suspected case of COVID-19 must be reported to the Transport Commissioner or the AO4 immediately, following which it is referred to the MOWT for the Health & Safety Department to take decisive action.
This, Clarke explained, entailed medical testing, quarantining and contact tracing.
Additionally, he said, “These persons are placed on stand-down immediately for them to go and get tested, et cetera. That is the protocol the MOWT has implemented.”
Up to 8 pm on November 20, Clarke and other senior officials from the Licensing Division had been engaged in following up all reported claims and addressing rumours of COVID-19 outbreaks across the division.
He said, “We found no outbreaks, but what we have found is that one or two persons sometimes being up to mischief to thwart the work of the environment.”
He speculated that it could be persons wanting to create panic among the workforce to force a shut-down of physical offices.
Additionally, he said some persons had not been following the reporting structure as they should, and this had led to news spreading among the workforce and possibly leading to the rumours of outbreaks.
Indicating that this has been rectified, Clarke said staff members are continuing to move around outside of work and it was possible they could become compromised outside of the office.
He said, “Once you are compromised, we have to take the necessary steps and this is in place.”
