By Fernando Davis

Michael Belnavis, the former mayor of St. Ann’s Bay and Jamaica Labour Party councillor for Ocho Rios, says while persons are busy protecting themselves against the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, they should also remember that dengue remains a clear and present danger.

Belnavis said it was against this background that he is urging persons in his division as well as in neighbouring communities “to get rid of anything” that could encourage mosquito breeding.

“Yes, we are facing the coronavirus pandemic but that doesn’t mean that dengue has suddenly disappeared,” Belnavis noted, adding that drains still needed to be cleaned, garbage needed to be properly disposed of “and everything else that we were doing prior to COVID-19”.

Belnavis said he was seeing “the development of a mindset” where some persons were relaxing their guard as it relates to dengue, falsely believing that COVID-19 “was the only health threat on the scene”.

‘LEARN TO RIDE AND WHISTLE’

He noted that “just like how we have to prepare for natural disasters, we still have to worry about dengue”.

“In this new dispensation, we just have to learn to ride and whistle,” he added.

The former mayor, in the meantime, said he was very impressed with the frontline workers who he said have been doing yeoman service at the health centres and at the St. Ann’s Bay Hospital in the fight against COVID-19.

He also noted that residents should be commended for obeying the curfew orders and for practising social distancing and other health and safety guidelines.

“It is a result of this kind of responsible behaviour why St. Ann has one of the lowest cases of the coronavirus in the country,” he added. “We have been doing a lot of sanitisation work, notably in the resort town of Ocho Rios and we have had our residents wearing masks and seeing to it that their hands are sanitised before entering a building”.

Belnavis added that residents were anxious for a return to some semblance of normalcy in the tourism sector, noting that many of them had experienced layoffs and “are just eager to return to work”.

He added: “They understand that we have had to put the safety measures in place such as the closing of the airports and seaports. They also understand that, as soon as it is safe to do so, everything will be done to bring back the tourism sector to what we are used to. It has not been an easy road but I am very confident we will pull through this together.”