Barbados denies media reports of citizens’ health put as risk during ICC World Cup

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Government has denied media reports that the health of Barbadians was placed at risk during the recently-concluded International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's T20 World Cup.

In addition to hosting the finals of the competition that was won by India, Barbados hosted several preliminary games in the tournament that was held in the West Indies and United States between June 1-29.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health and Wellness said that it “strongly refutes” a statement made in a section of the press regarding the health of Barbadians during the tournament, noting that during Cricket World Cup, in conjunction with the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), it “instituted a real-time surveillance system to capture all possible public health events that could have occurred.

“We received daily reports on the status of public health during all of the Cricket World Cup matches. The surveillance started before, during, and a week after Cricket World Cup. At no time was there any infectious disease outbreak that warranted public health intervention,” the ministry said, insisting that “the public remained safe at all times.”

The ministry said that it is working with the management of a local company “to ensure the food supply remains safe,” adding there is no outbreak associated with the company “and we will continue to work with the company to have outstanding matters resolved.

“The Ministry encourages the public to use reputable sources and refrain from using unofficial and unverified sources to obtain their information,” the statement added.

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