TCI: Back to the Workplace, Govt Offices return to normal on Monday

#TurksandCaicos, April 9, 2021 – It is back to the office full time for hundreds of government employees in Turks and Caicos; the lowered numbers of Covid-19 infections and the progress in vaccinations have ended a work from home, shift system instituted in January when TCI experienced its worst spike of coronavirus cases and deaths. 

“Credited to the successful rollout of the COVID-19 Vaccination program and adherence and enforcement of the COVID-19 protocols across the islands, we have recently seen a significant sustained decrease in the number of active cases and positivity rate across the Turks and Caicos Islands which allows us to now appropriately return to work and to reopen our schools under revised health protocols,” said HE Anya Williams, who heads the Public Sector.

Deputy Governor Williams said public service workers must return to work and when they do, to keep the spaces safe, there will be regular daily cleaning and mandatory testing for the coronavirus. 

“To this end, the Turks and Caicos Government will discontinue its current shift system on Monday April 12, 2021. Work hours will however remain from 9:00am to 4:00pm each day, with the lunch hour being observed from 1:00pm to 2:00pm, in order to allow appropriate cleaning each day.

In order to reduce risk and exposure, both to staff and members of the general public, mandatory scheduled testing is being proposed to gain a continuous better understanding of the prevalence of the virus within the public service and inform management responses,” said her statement issued on Thursday (April 8).

Previously it was voluntary to get tested; now at least six frontline worker groups from the public sector will have to undergo regular testing.

“Staff were previously voluntarily tested on a scheduled basis. However, this yielded poor results in several key areas where staff did not avail themselves to testing, resulting in significant exposure whereby staff both symptomatic and asymptomatic reported to work and contributed to the spread of the virus as a result of not being aware of their COVID-19 status.

To date, a significant number of public servants across government have been vaccinated, thereby helping to reduce the transmission rate. However, recognizing that there are still areas of concern, as a part of the new health protocols, Cabinet at its meeting on March 24, 2021 approved the mandatory testing of unvaccinated staff across government on a scheduled basis to ensure that we are better aware of persons COVID-19 status and can work to better prevent exposure and or potential outbreaks across government.”

The departments were listed as:  Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP),  Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF); Education Sector (All Teachers); Health Professionals (Clinics, Hospitals, Wellness Centers); Immigration and Customs.

Effective April 12, 2021, unvaccinated staff particularly those that have an increased level of interface with the general public or vulnerable groups will be tested on a weekly basis. This includes the following departments which account for over 60% of our public service.