Gibson slams Govt’s COVID-19 management

One of the newest shadow Democratic Labour Party (DLP) spokesmen has slammed the Mottley administration for not following its own COVID-19 management protocol at the beginning of the spike in infections late last year.

In a statement, Paul Gibson assured Barbadians that the lockdown was necessary because of the high numbers of positive cases for the virus being seen daily on the island. But he was critical of Government’s response to the crisis, saying that it was slow to move, even for the protocols it had put in place.

Gibson said: “The Government of Barbados has a COVID-19 playbook management protocol that gives guidance to the response of escalating COVID-19 numbers in the country Barbados. The June 10th 2020 documents is a playbook, that directs relevant responses, to level 1, level 2, and level 3 COVID threats. On page 3 of the document, it says – for level 3, which is the highest level threat, called the Systems Potentially Overwhelmed, it states that with more than 35 cases per week, the responses [are] as follows: ‘All services that interact with the public will be discontinued, home isolation and remote monitoring for mild COVID-19 cases will be the order.’

“It also instructs where there are 75 per cent of the critical beds utilized in isolation centres, all services that interact with the public will be discontinued, home isolation and remote monitoring for mild COVID-19 cases will be the order. With this understanding, as to what happens when we reach trigger point, we can better understand what should have happened, from mid-December 2020. Had [these] guidelines been followed, many Barbadians and visitors alike, would not be currently experiencing significantly long delays, in issuing of test results.”

Gibson also declared that Government delayed addressing the brewing situation back in December, leading to a strain currently being experienced on the health system with delays in test results, results being misplaced, and delays in COVID positive patients being moved to isolation facilities. The situation has caused the anxiety of many Barbadians to undoubtedly rise, he said.

He added: “This has been an incredibly stressful experience, for those who were afraid that they may be the cause of their parents, exiting from this earth… When there is a delay in receiving results and timely collections of COVID-19 positive patients, it is an indication that the train has gone off the tracks, and that our management of surprising the spread of this disease, is no longer under control. We can, unfortunately, anticipate more deaths and secondary complications, as a result of COVID-19 infections which will increase our tertiary health care cost.”

Gibson implored the Government to give Barbadians the “hard and straight facts” about the current situation, saying that no matter how hard the uncensored facts will be for some to hear, Barbadians are known to be smart and rise up and do what needs to be done when faced with a challenge.

He said: “The use of smoke and mirrors is not the way you run a country. It is not optics, but many times it’s about truth, and truth wins. Barbadians are wise and discerning, we know this at the Democratic Labour Party. We more than anyone else, have the respect and humility to acknowledge this significant fact. We want all Barbadians to continue to do what is absolutely necessary in this pause, to reign in the negative effects of COVID-19.”
(SB)