Dear Nationals and Friends of Grenada,

I bring you greetings during this most turbulent time.

I sincerely hope that most, if not all of you, are doing well and staying safe.

I wish to extend my best wishes for a speedy recovery to all those who are afflicted by COVID-19. We have received reports of several nationals who have succumbed to this deadly virus, and our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and friends. As one Grenadian family, whether at home or in our Diaspora communities, we laugh together and we mourn together. We have seen the images in several cities that are ravaged by this public health threat and our hearts go out to all of you in those epicenters—from NY to London.

Our Ambassadors, High Commissioner, Consuls General and other diplomats abroad are keeping us up to date on what is happening and they are our voices to you in these trying times.

Our missions are there to support you as far as possible, understanding the challenges that such support entails. While there isn’t much we can do right now for those who have fallen, we understand the anguish of loved ones left behind who cannot even be afforded the opportunity to bury their families with the decency and honor to which we have become accustomed. We empathize and sympathize with you, and we assure you that their memories and contributions will be properly highlighted by our diplomats, and commemorated in the annals of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I have heard the cries as well, of our brothers and sisters who would have appreciated the opportunity to return home to ride out this crisis. Unfortunately, we had to make the hard decision to close our borders to all incoming passengers. It turns out that it was the necessary and prudent thing to do and we did it in the nick of time, since all confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Grenada, so far, have been imported or import-related.

I hope you understand that closing the borders was a national security and public health emergency, given the trends that we were witnessing. It gave the Government no joy, and we apologize to those of you who might have been affected by that decision, especially our affected students. It is our hope that you understand the reason and that years from now, when you look back on this period, you will appreciate the necessity of that decision.

Let us invoke that innate spirit of “Grenadianness;” that spirit that has shown itself to be resilient to revolutions, natural disasters and economic crises. We have come out swinging before, and we will again.

We look forward to the day when we can all be together again… and share laughs, food and drinks, in true Grenadian spirit. Fellow citizens, this is indeed a challenging time, but we cannot lose hope and perspective. This period calls for all of us to hold true to a higher calling: humanity. Let us invoke that innate spirit of “Grenadianness;” that spirit that has shown itself to be resilient to revolutions, natural disasters and economic crises. We have come out swinging before, and we will again. That’s because we have never let go of each other’s hands and we have been our brothers’ keeper.

I urge you to continue to follow the guidelines and precautions presented by the health experts: wash hands, practice overall good hygiene, social and physical distancing, remain at home as much as possible, and wear a mask or face covering whenever out in public.

If we all do our part, we can be relatively confident that some semblance of normalcy will be restored before too long.

I hope to see and welcome all of you home, on the other side of COVID-19.

Until then, be well and stay safe.

Sincerely,
Peter Charles David
Minister for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs