Ministers say health crisis rules stem COVID-19 spread

Government’s emergency powers legislation has been a highly effective tool to control the spread of COVID-19, Minister of Health and Wellness Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic declared Friday as lawmakers met to extend the public health emergency for another five months.

But the opposition leader questioned the timing of the extension, hinting it created a convenient opportunity for the governing party to hold its annual party conference free of the restrictions that have gripped the country so far this year.

Speaking in the House of Assembly on the extension of the current measures until September 25, Lt Col Bostic said: “People may ask why we are extending the state of emergency when we seem to be doing better.

“Lest we forget, on December 31 last year, we had 383 positive COVID cases, and by the end of February, just two months later, that number had jumped to 3,115 positive cases.

“No one saw that big increase coming and if we did not have the leeway to act, we would have been in a far worse position. Because of that legislation, we got the isolation centres ready as well as brought in the Cuban team of doctors and nurses to assist our health care staff.”

Up to the end of March, the ratio of new positive cases was 62.8 per 100,000 population, but now stands at 39 per 100,000, the health minister said.

Lt Col Bostic also used the opportunity to give the latest statistics on the pandemic.

He told the House: “The Best Dos Santos laboratory examined 813 tests overnight, and of that number we recorded 14 new positive cases, seven men and seven women, ten of whom have gone to the Harrison Point isolation centre.

“While this is good, there are some things about it that are not so good, for example, seven of those people are from one family which is connected to one of the clusters we are investigating.”

In speaking of the removal of restrictions governing church services, Attorney General Dale Marshall said for the most part they were following the social distancing rules, with Lt Col Bostic noting that some of them had begun to introduce their own protocols before Government did so.

He said: “Some have asked us to increase their number of attendees and requested that the social distancing rules be moved from six feet to three feet apart, and we are also concerned that if they prolong their services it may put more members at risk.”

Marshall urged Barbadians not to “drop their guard” on the next week’s two bank holidays: National Heroes Day on Wednesday, and May Day on Saturday.

The AG said: “Heroes Day falls on a Wednesday, so there will be no curfew as it is a regular weekday, but the COVID restrictions on gatherings of people outside their homes are still in force.

“So picnics, parties and the like are still prohibited, and the COVID Monitoring Unit will be using drones to patrol parks, beaches and other public places to ensure that Barbadians are sticking to the rules.”

Leader of the Opposition Bishop Joseph Atherley questioned whether the Emergency Powers Act was putting too much power in the hands of the Prime Minister.

He said: “What has happened is that Cabinet has essentially devolved its powers to the Prime Minister in terms of issuing orders and directives, so we are being managed by prime ministerial edict.

“We are giving power to a single hand to make laws binding on the lives of the people of Barbados, and we cannot extend this period without bearing that in mind.”

Bishop Atherley suggested that the end of the pending state of emergency on September 25 seemed to pave the way for the ruling Barbados Labour Party to host its annual conference in October this year without any restrictions.

Marshall countered this by stating: “The dates are a function of mathematics. Between March 28, 2020, and March 27, 2021, this island was governed under a state of emergency, and the BLP held its annual conference with all the necessary protocols in place. We are not seeking to prejudice other parties and favour ourselves.

“We are hoping that after the end of this period we do not have to impose another.”

Lt Col Bostic added: “Things are improving but we still need to look ahead and ensure that we are ready if we find ourselves with another surge in cases, especially when people start flying and sailing again.” (DH)