As the COVID-19 cases continue to skyrocket, the government is expecting the mental health cases to follow right behind. Minister of Health Dr. Christopher Tufton says the government is funding a 20 million dollar health programme targeting the problem.
Dr. Christopher Tufton says this 20 dollar initiative is to reduce the progression of mental health issues that are expected to emerge resulting from the virus.
Dr. Tufton says the programme will feature targeted community interventions, notably a volunteer service that provides vulnerable community members with assistance with day-to-day tasks, including the purchase of groceries and the filling of prescriptions.
The first element of the multimillion dollar programme is to focus on increasing the skill set of health care workers and community volunteers to include psychological first aid to better equip personnel to respond to mental health issues.
However, as the panic and the protocols are echoed daily, clinical psychologist of the Ministry of Education Region Three, Keva Reid says the pandemic is not all bad. Reid says that it all depends on our perspective.
Reid adds that for many it is a time of opportunity and we should think about the positives.
CVM LIVE‘s Paige Dixon reports:
