‘End’ to test delays that left many fuming

The frustrating backlog of COVID-19 PCR test results that left quarantining tourists trapped in hotel rooms and quarantine centres over the last week is now over, the Minister of Health has declared.

The delays threatened to further dent the recovery efforts of the tourism industry in the midst of its worst-ever crisis brought on the coronavirus pandemic.

But the news appeared to do little to satisfy some travellers for the days of anxiety and unforeseen expenses affecting returning nationals and tourists who have complained of receiving “poor information” from the Ministry of Health.

Among them was Barbadian Kayleigh McLean, 23, a biotechnology researcher, who arrived on Friday, December 17, and was hoping to surprise her parents before Christmas, after spending the last 12 months working at a small biotech firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The approximately 48 hours in which she was supposed to quarantine pending the results of her second test, turned into a more than 148-hour wait that ended on the afternoon of Christmas Day, when McLean was finally reunited with her family.

McLean told Barbados TODAY: “That has been the biggest difficulty – getting through to people. You were calling numbers and no one was answering, you emailed people and no answer or responses were being given. It was very difficult and I couldn’t imagine being a tourist in this situation who doesn’t know anyone in Barbados.

“Things [were] not coming from the lab down to the polyclinic or from the polyclinics down to the hotels and it really [was] putting a strain on the hotels because I obviously was not supposed to stay there so long, hotels were overbooked and then had to rebook people. It’s been a very crazy experience.

“But that is not to say that Barbados has not done an amazing job so far. They have done fantastic for the small island nation that we are running all of these PCR tests.”

During a press conference at Ilaro Court on Monday, less than a week after apologising for the backlog, Minister of Health Lt. Col. Bostic announced that officials at the Best dos-Santos Public Health Laboratory were once again processing results within a 24-hour period.

He declared: “I am happy to report that over 1,000 samples were tested overnight and we were able to deliver those results by 6 a.m. so that persons would have had back their results in good time and we have put measures in place to continue with this, because we have only had that one week where we had challenges, and as I have said before, anytime we fall, we will get back up, dust ourselves and start all over again.”

In addition to returning nationals being deprived of quality time with their loved ones, tourists were also having their vacation days slashed, and others hoping to receive their tests before leaving the country were delayed.

In some cases, the backlog has been blamed for an apparent rise of incidents of people dodging quarantine prior to receiving negative results and subsequent clearance from health officials. Among the offenders was Barbadian Tyriq Anderson Akeem Thornhill who was slapped with a fine of $6,000 after taking a taxi from Blue Horizon Hotel in Christ Church to Lonestar Restaurant in St. James.

McLean said she would never have dared to evade quarantine like some others, but admitted that the thought crossed her mind as she struggled to reach health officials about the status of her tests. Eventually, she was informed that her results could not be located and that she would have to be retested.

“Being in a four-walled room by yourself for an extended period of time really tests your mental stability. It’s been nice to have neighbours who I was able to speak with when I went out on my hotel porch,” McClean told Barbados TODAY.

“Luckily, my friends and family have been calling to check up on me, and making sure that things are running smoothly… It’s been difficult and I either been reading in my time or watching Netflix or taking the time to finally sleep because I hadn’t gotten any sleep over the past couple of weeks.

“Many of us were in the dark about what was going on and we were only hearing small snippets from the hotel or maybe some doctors that I communicated with… but no one had come out and said outright what was causing the delays and it was nice to hear [Lt. Col. Bostic] acknowledge that.

“But at the same time I wasted a lot of time and a lot of money having to be retested privately, and that meant quite a lot of money to get that test done. So it was nice for him to apologize, but it wasn’t the only thing I wanted to be hearing at that moment.”

McLean, who is scheduled to leave again in the coming days praised the country’s protocols that included six airport checkpoints, followed by a designated taxi to transport visitors to their hotels and condos. At check-in, McLean recalled being informed of the limits of her stay, which, for the most part, meant remaining in her room.

“If you have a delivery of food, then you can go pick that up inside the gates of the hotel, she said. “Other than that they have been super strict. They’ve been monitoring us and I think a lot of us have a moral conscience, so I would never put anyone at risk, especially in my own community by trying to escape quarantine.

“Barbados has done an amazing job at keeping the community safe and sound in terms of doing the contact tracing when needed, testing everyone either when they come in, and doing that second test is so important and it does not compare to the US right now.”

(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)