Bajans happy with virus plans

Barbadians seem to be satisfied that local health officials are doing all in their power to prepare the nation for the dreaded Covid-19 virus, which is wreaking havoc as it infects thousands around the world.

When Barbados TODAY took to the streets, several people said they were making a great effort to practice good hygiene, but noted that they were also focused on what Government has been doing to prepare the country.

One individual said he wondered whether Barbados was equipped with sufficient resources to cope with a major pandemic.

Angela Greene said though she was satisfied with what authorities have been doing, she was not of the opinion that the general public has been taking the threat of the disease seriously.

“We as a people ain’t taking it too serious because it ain’t hit home yet. When it hit home then we gine be scrambling just like a hurricane. We Bajans is last minute shoppers, just like Christmas we last minute,” Greene said.

Fruit and vegetable vendor Christopher Harris, who had his bottle of hand sanitizer close by, said he believes practicing good personal hygiene should be an easy task for Barbadians since it was one of the principles of maintaining a healthy body.

“I always got my Clorox, and my hand sanitizer around my tray right through. You dealing with a lot of different people so every time somebody come I try to keep myself clean because you ain’t know who bringing anything around you, Corona or not,” Harris said.

He said that while, through the media he has been hearing about the proposed action plan, he believes the only way to see if it will be effective is when there is reason for it to be activated.

“It is alright to say one thing in the media, but the reality is when you deal with the situation you will then tell if them dealing with it the right way,” Harris said.

Following a five-hour meeting with stakeholders at the Hilton Resort on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, said it was highly unlikely that Barbados would not record a case of the virus which has now reached CARICOM nations of Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, The Cayman Islands and Guadeloupe and infected over 118,900 globally.

She said Barbados has put a prevention and mitigation plan in place and called on all stakeholders to play a role in the effort if and when the time comes.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Anton Best explained that under the plan there were four stages which make up the framework for the national response for the COVID-19 and provide guidance to stakeholders to develop their own plans.

Meanwhile, another City vendor who called himself Moses said he did not believe that officials fighting the COVID-19 battle overseas seem to know what they were doing, considering that the situation is now being considered a pandemic.

Moses said that while developed countries have more access to the resources to fight the scourge, he is wondering how little Barbados would be able to manage.

“From what I see, them trying under these dread circumstances. Them went to university so let them handle it. I ain’t went to university.

“You get tourists passing here everyday and every time one of them come here they touch my stuff and I spray everything. And that is my little contribution to keeping Barbados safe,” Moses said.

A concerned citizen who said she was the mother of three school-aged children noted that she wanted to hear more about what plans are being put in place for schoolchildren if that virus get here.

“I hearing people saying that the virus ain’t affecting children but I don’t care about that because our bodies are different. All I want to know is what plans they have in place for school children if this thing comes here,” the mother said. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb