Dr Dennis Edwards, who was part of a panel organised by the Caribbean Sociological Association (CASA) to examine the social fallouts occasioned by the pandemic last week, said COVID-19 should be taken “as a sort of opportunity in disguise”.

“I am of the view that we here in the Caribbean – this being maybe the third most multi-hazard region in the world – should be taking this time to simulate, model, drill, not only for a single disaster such as a COVID-19, but for multiple disasters co-occurring,” he said.

“Suppose it is that the COVID-19 disaster should extend into our hurricane time frame, and suppose…our COVID-19 experience should also be accompanied by an earthquake in the Caribbean, and suppose it is that the scenario should be accompanied by social unrest — do we have a mechanism to treat with all of those co-occurring disasters?” Dr Edwards asked rhetorically. “So we [would] have a medical event on our hands, an event such as a hurricane, a seismic event such as an earthquake and social unrest.” Edwards, who is head of the Disaster Risk Reduction Centre at The University of the West Indies, Mona, said the approach should also include the dignified evacuation of people, the dignified recovery and disposal of human remains, the management of shelters and tent cities, were it to come to that.

“A disaster is a terrible thing to waste and…out of COVID-19 as far as disaster is concerned, we have to situate this experience within the broader context of the disaster response mechanism in the Caribbean. So our agencies such as the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, these disaster management mechanisms within respective island states and collectively, will have to kick into gear,” he stated.

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