The UWI establishes COVID-19 Task Force

Once again, The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is launching a
Task Force to assist with the mobilisation of the region’s public
health providers to deal with an incoming virus. Four years ago, the
Zika virus triggered the response; today it is COVID-19.

Again,
the Task Force will be chaired by The UWI’s Professor Clive Landis, Pro
Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Studies and former Director of the
George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre, who has considerable
experience in the field of Caribbean public health.

The
University is currently delivering a software engineering degree
programme at its joint Institute in Suzhou, China, and has a large
registered cohort of Caribbean students. It is engaged directly with
public health officials in Suzhou, Caribbean diplomatic corps in
Beijing, and the leadership of its partner university, the Global
Institute for Software Engineering (GIST).

Vice-Chancellor of
The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles stated, “Against the background of
dealing with its internal affairs in China, The UWI has been working in
close collaboration with regional health ministries and the relevant
CARICOM agencies.” The purpose, he added, is to “Provide the necessary
scientific data on the virus and to work with government colleagues in
creating an effective communications strategy for the region.” He
concluded saying, “The Task Force will have a critical role to play in
solutions building in the immediate future”.

Membership
of the Task Force is drawn from the regional UWI campuses, comprising
multi-discipline specialists, scientists, researchers and public health
professionals with combined expertise in in virology, epidemiology,
laboratory diagnostics, critical care, respiratory medicine, veterinary
medicine, tourism, trade, international relations and communication. 

Commenting on the work of the Task Force, Professor Landis stated, “It is right that The UWI should deploy its full expertise as a public academy to help Caribbean communities cope at this instance of the COVID-19 epidemic. The primary emphasis of the COVID-19 Task Force will be to provide accurate and reliable information through UWItv and other channels of communication. Armed with good information and strong partnerships we will get through this viral outbreak as we did for ‘swine flu’, Chikungunya and Zika before it.”

for more information see here: https://www.uwi.edu/covid19/