Stewart-Hinchcliffe urges maintenance of COVID sanitisation standards
Published:Thursday | June 6, 2024 | 12:10 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Audrey Stewart-Hinchcliffe, chairman, Manpower & Maintenance Services (MMS) Limited hopes to see Jamaica continue to press with the international standards set during the pandemic for proper sanitisation.
After the first case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was announced in Jamaica by Dr Christopher Tufton, minister of health and wellness on March 10, 2020, almost all business places in Jamaica, as it was worldwide, implemented a strategy for the sanitisation of hands before entering stores as one of the most simple, yet strategic measures. This was also supported by the Government through amendments to the Disaster Risk Management Act during the pandemic.
However, with the significant fall in cases in over a year, the measure of hand sanitisation, for example, has now become relaxed, with proper sanitisation hardly ever happening these days at the entry of business places.
To Stewart-Hinchcliffe, Jamaica’s ways of working hit international literature, and it is time for Jamaicans to maintain proper sanitation standards by continuously using hand sanitisers and antibacterial wipes.
Stewart-Hinchcliffe, while speaking on World Environment Day — which was globally celebrated on Wednesday — at the MMS Limited Group Annual Conference at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel, said the significant impact of COVID-19 demonstrates to us “that we cannot afford to be caught napping again”, and “the time to plan is before these emergencies occur”.
“In our own way, Jamaica, we have set a standard based on how we handled and framed the communication for dealing with COVID at that time … . It doesn’t have to be another COVID. It’s a similar thing for earthquake or hurricane, and we mustn’t wait until it is upon us,” Stewart-Hinchcliffe said.
She emphasised that when she did an online search recently, in preparation for the conference, she was surprised at the number of international mentions her cleaning agency MMS had received.
“I was surprised in doing the research where organisations have listed countries and agencies that have dealt very well with COVID. Listed in the research is Manpower and the Government of Jamaica,” she said.
Stewart-Hinchcliffe is the founder and chairman of Caribbean Health Management Consultants Ltd, her first business entity, followed by the establishment of MMS and its subsidiaries comprising the Institute for Workforce Education & Development Ltd, MMS Placement Agency Ltd, and the MMS Foundation.
During the COVID-19 period, MMS and its employees were on the front lines providing both public- and private-sector support in the area of cleaning and sanitisation.
Manpower developed a protocol for cleaning and sanitisation for the business recovery task force as well as a road map for co-existing with the novel COVID-19 virus.
‘A Time Like No Other’
Also, Stewart-Hinchcliffe produced the book A Time Like No Other: Lessons from COVID-19.
She said she wrote the book to remind people of the challenges of the pandemic and to educate and serve as a guide for the future should there be another public-health emergency as the one COVID-19 caused.
Manpower also opened a sales store for sanitation products in 2021.
For Wayne Chen, chairman, Southern Regional Health Authority, who was the keynote speaker at the conference, the healthcare system in Jamaica was stretched to its limit before the pandemic.
“There is still the threat of the virus itself … . We may not be feeling the impact of the virus, but something is still happening,” Chen said.
He said during the pandemic, “some good things happened” such as fewer numbers of persons seeking healthcare for gastroenteritis,” and other illnesses, given that persons were home and taking care of themselves.
“When you look at the numbers, yes, many health issues have actually improved since the pandemic, most notably, as I say, gastroenteritis. But the one that jumps out at me is the sharp increase in mental-health issues among our young people,” Chen said.
He said that despite mitigation, there has been a sharp increase in mental illness, which is a negative result of the pandemic that still needs to be addressed.