Saint Lucia police have denied what they describe as a malicious and ‘very inaccurate’ claim that officers at the Anse La Raye station tested positive for COVID-19.
Police spokeswoman, Anne Joseph, said a woman made the allegation in a voice note.
Joseph explained that on October 23, 2020, a male prisoner was taken into custody and escorted to the Anse La Raye police station.
She noted that during the time he was in custody he took ill.
According to the police spokeswoman, as a consequence and out of an abundance of caution, he was taken into a respiratory clinic where he was tested for COVID-19.
Joseph said the test was negative.
She disclosed that the situation in Anse La Raye resulted in several persons being tested.
“No police officer attached to that police station, including the inspector as is detailed by that individual in the voice recording – none of them have tested positive for COVID-19,” Joseph revealed.
“It was out of an abundance of caution – a prisoner took ill, everybody was sent into isolation. Those who could be sent home to isolate at home were sent home,” she recalled.
Joseph said the station was temporarily shut down to facilitate sanitisation work but is currently fully operational.
According to the police spokeswoman, a set of officers who had not been exposed to the prisoner, as well as the officers who were on duty at the time, were brought in from various stations to respond to any reports that may have come up within the Anse La Raye district during that time.
Joseph said the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) wants to encourage members of the public to have confidence in the protocols that have been established.
“ We did not dream up the protocols,” she declared, adding that they were developed by public health officials based on extensive research.
Joseph reminded reporters that the RSLPF was one of the first organisations impacted by COVID-19.
She recalled that one officer tested positive in the early stages of the disease reaching Saint Lucia, but nobody tested positive around him because the protocols work.
“We have protocols in place and they work. Nobody was affected by that officer and he had been at the department where he was stationed,” she observed.
Headline photo caption:(File photo) Police spokeswoman Corporal Anne Joseph
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