Pain and anguish: Family wants Govt to pay

Members of a visiting family from New York want the Mia Mottley administration to compensate them for just under $12,000 in out-of-pocket expenses incurred during an extended period in quarantine awaiting COVID-19 test results.

Kerlisha Broomes, spokesperson for the 11-member family from Brooklyn, which included three children and an elderly relative, said they were in quarantine at a villa from the day they arrived here for the funeral of a loved one on February 6 until February 16.

Broomes said that having not budgeted for the four additional days in quarantine at the villa in the north of the island and considering that meals were not provided by the holiday facility, the experience became even more frustrating when their COVID test results were delayed, putting the funeral on hold.

“At the time of taking our test on the 11th February, we were assured by the clinic that results were scheduled for 24 hours so we were prepared for that.  However, that was not the case hence the additional expenses.

The family is split into five households (as we had three kids and an elderly) which is how we split the overhead costs. In total each household was out of pocket by about US$296 per day for the additional four days in quarantine,” Broomes told Barbados TODAY.

“Not only did we have to extend the quarantine time and reservations, but also the time the body had to stay at the funeral home with us having to push the original date back from the 13th to today [February 18],” the distraught visitor stated.

She said that after having to endure “the unprofessionalism” and lack of proper communication by local health authorities and other government officials, the family was “finally able to have someone on the inside pull our results on Tuesday [February 16] to get us out for the funeral. It has not however negated the extensive delay and expenses we incurred.”

Broomes told Barbados TODAY they were scheduled to leave the island on Tuesday, February 23rd but has been trying to contact Jet Blue to arrange a possible extension because the additional days in quarantine delayed the family getting things done on the island after the funeral.

“While we were understanding to a certain degree with the backlog and delay, the lack of communication from anyone was really unprofessional. From the day we landed until our leaving the villa we were not contacted by anyone directly,” she claimed.

The family also shared a letter sent earlier to the Ministry of Health regarding their plight.

“We were scheduled to be at our father’s funeral today and have been trying to get in contact with someone about this since our arrival. We have had our COVID test on the island done on February 11 and were promised results in 24 hours so as to attend the funeral on Saturday, February 13. However, that was not the case. We have since had to extend our stay at the villa with additional expenses.

“Today (Saturday) we reached out to the COVID-19 hotline number and they said they would be forwarding the information to the polyclinic. They also advised that we follow up with a call. We have been
calling the Eunice Gibson polyclinic without any success. We are now looking at possibly having to spend additional time at the villa which will incur additional costs. We are a family of 11 which includes three children and our elderly mother,” the letter read.

When Barbados TODAY reached out to Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Kenneth George, he promised to investigate the matter.

(emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb)