BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - EIGHT students of the Federation who are currently residing in Mexico have stated that they feel a great “need for concern”, as they remain without proper medical supplies to protect themselves from the spreading Swine Flu in the region.
Speaking to SKNVibes, the 2004-2005 National Carnival Queen Johan Kelly said that she and her fellow students who reside in Morelos, a neighbouring state to the heavily affected Mexico City, are at an increased risk for the disease since the outbreak due to migration.
“Sonia Rosita Boddie, Jahnald Audain and myself all live in the state of Morelos which is the neighbouring state of Mexico City. Since the outbreak, the amount of people coming to our state to escape the swine flu in Mexico City has been at a rate that is causing concern for the citizens here, as many may already be infected,” she said.
According to BBC, there are 1614 suspected cases of the disease reported in Mexico alone. Additionally, 152 persons are suspected to have died from Swine Flu, though only 20 of these have been confirmed at this time.
Further, concerning Kelly and her peers, is the fact that the medical supplies necessary to protect them from the potentially fatal disease, such as facemasks and flu vaccines, have been in scarce supply since the first cases were reported.
“I personally do not have a mask and neither do my fellow countrymen here. There is a shortage nationwide, even in the hospitals. The disposable ones that people have need to be used over and over again as the best means to protect themselves, because there is a shortage of proper protection.
“Even if we decide to go to the hospital, that’s where the sick are and we are bound to get infected, especially walking around without masks,” she said.
Vaccines have been essentially unobtainable, as the limited amount in health facilities are being reserved for medical staff, and those few available at the pharmacies are being sold for US$200 and up.
Kelly, who is studying Tourism Management at the Universidad Internciona, noted that the Federation’s students are displeased that they were not contacted personally by the government immediately to ensure they were safe and to advise them on the proper course of action.
“It has been very disturbing that the first person to contact us is a newspaper [SKNVibes] and not the government. They have all our contact information and still we have not been contacted.
“We are concerned for our well-being, as no one from the government has contacted us, or the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, which is the government institution here in Mexico that is in charge of us. We have not received emails on measures to be taken, or emails of concern,” she said.
According to Kelly, Boddie decided to take the situation into her own hands yesterday (Apr. 27) and emailed the St. Kitts-Nevis Ambassador to Mexico, who is stationed in Washington D.C, and other government officials after the government of Mexico ordered all learning institutions closed until further notice to prevent the spread of the disease.
In the email, Boddie describes the students as “very scared” and says that she is “writing so that somebody could be aware of the sad and alarming state of affairs here in Mexico and in turn contact us, the students, to bring some level of comfort and assurance to us that the Government and people of St. Kitts are concerned”.
Kelly said that subsequent to the email, Ambassador His Excellency Errol Maynard contacted them this afternoon (Apr. 28), and “expressed concern and asked what they can do to help”. Maynard said in the email that the Federation would be best able to assess the course of action to be taken after a meeting of the National Emergency Management Association this afternoon and he would keep them abreast of developments.
SKNVibes, which obtained contact information for the students from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asked Senior Foreign Service Officer Kaye Bass of the same ministry what the government is doing to assist the students and why they had been delayed in reaching them.
“We just received information about this today, and we are trying to work on it in the quickest possible manner. We are currently in negotiations with the Mexican Embassy in St. Lucia, so I cannot comment on the specifics of that at this moment. We are aware, however, of the situation they are facing as students,” Bass said.
SKNVibes also spoke to the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris, who said that he could not comment in detail on the matter as it no longer falls under his purview. He however did note that the proper diplomatic course of action would be for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to first contact the students to “better understand their position” and quickly take action from there.
The World Health Organisation raised its international alert status to Category 4 yesterday, and the students said they are concerned with each passing day that their chance of infection becomes greater.
“As students, your money is limited so we can only buy the necessary essentials, and because this epidemic gave no warning we did not stock on items. We are using what we have, but we will need to leave home soon to go to the supermarket, which means taking the bus and having contact with people in public.
“This makes me a little nervous,” Kelly said.
Persons interested in assisting St. Kitts-Nevis students residing in Mexico may do so by first contacting Kelly at her email address, johankelly21@hotmail.com.
