Caribbean news. Hans King, press secretary to Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves did not like how journalist Jerry George handled a “breaking news” story about a health situation at Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) on Monday 26th January.
So, the prime minister’s spokesman and former journalist took to social networking website Facebook, calling George an “attention seeking, headline-grabbing a**hole”.
Hans King. Photo courtesy www.iwnsvg.com
On Monday, there was an Ebola scare at MCMH as medical staff and patients scampered as a Nigerian student checked into the Accident and Emergency Department with a fever sometime after 2 p.m.
George reported on the development in a Facebook post at 4:23 p.m. saying:
BREAKING NEWS:
A SITUATION SEEMS TO BE DEVELOPING AT THE MILTON CATO MEMORIAL HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW WHICH IS DRIVING PANIC INTO PATIENTS ATTENDING ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY AT THE MOMENT! A PATIENT TOLD ME THAT HOSPITAL STAFF HAVE BEEN SEEN DONNING MASKS ETC, AREA CLEARED AND PATIENTS HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD WHAT IS HAPPENING….!
At 4:23, someone commented on the post, saying, “Need more information.”, to which George responded one minute later, “Working on it don’t worry [name omitted].
In a post at 4:28, someone commented, “Wow!”
Journalist Jerry George. Photo courtesy Facebook
George, in a comment on the post, said at 4:29 p.m., “Ok I am being inundated with calls and text messages now”.
At 4:44 p.m., George made the following post, in which he cited “an authoritative source” as saying there was panic at the hospital but that the possibility of the Nigerian student who triggered the scare having Ebola “is very low”.
“Have an authoritative source which tells me that there is a Nigerian Student with fever and seems staff are panicking at the hospital. My source also assured me that the possibility of it be Ebola is very low. I believe its the open public reaction of the staff that has driven fear into the general public and we now have a LIVE developing case of an Ebola scare on our hands!”
George’s post was edited after it was initially posted, but I-Witness News cannot verify what changes were made to it.
The Ministry of Health, in a statement emailed to the media as well as health care professionals at 5:35 p.m., said that the Nigerian student had suffered a relapse of Malaria and the casualty department was cleared of ambulant patients out of an abundance of caution.
George’s name was not included in the email list. At 8:05 p.m. on Monday, George posted a screen capture of the post in which the Prime Minister’s spokesman called him an “a**hole”. Article courtesy http://www.iwnsvg.com
Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. Photo courtesy www.iwnsvg.com
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