#BTEditorial – COVID-19 ordeal far from over, vigilance is key

It must be a frustratingly difficult period for our economic and health planners as they engage in the ongoing battle to quell and defeat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) here.

It is obvious that we cannot afford to wallow in an atmosphere of defeatism, but those in the trenches on the frontlines of this fight must be enduring trauma from which some of them could be victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Our main COVID-19 treatment facility at Harrison Point, in St Lucy has been the scene of many recoveries from the disease, but it has also been the place where most of the 48 souls have succumbed to the illness.

We as a country have spent hundreds of millions in dollars to respond to the health and socio-economic fallout caused by the pandemic.

The most recent update from our Minister of Health and Wellness Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic on Sunday of a significant spike in cases on the island sent a collective shiver across the population.

We had persuaded ourselves that we were making significant progress in the COVID-19 fight. The fact that we, in recent times, experienced days with no confirmed cases of the illness, were exactly what we wanted to hear.

But in the back of our minds, we knew instinctively that this might just be the calm before the storm. Or it could be likened to the lull that occurs after the passage of the eye of the hurricane. For certain, the intense winds will follow from the opposite direction.

There’s fear that as the country frees up its borders and countries like the United Kingdom and the United States allow their citizens to travel freely for non-emergency and leisure purposes, that cases of COVID-19 on the island would grow.

And just as Barbadians began making plans to possibly increase their social and other activities such as attending church, the administration has been forced to impose another two-week curfew starting Tuesday.

This has been a non-ended cycle of troughs and peaks in the progression of the disease. The times of respite are fleeting, and the resurgences are maddening.    

Our Minister of Health and Wellness is not known to take any matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic with a less than a serious approach. But we fear that the overly optimistic, calming sentiments of the retired army officer on the weekend, may be contributing to the belief that all is well and that “we got this”.

Bostic noted: “We have to look after the safety and security of the country . . . . If we are able to contain this recent spread, then maybe we can go in a different direction.”

“We have been here before. It’s a challenge, but it’s been a lot worse than this before. We can overcome this. I’m begging now, not pleading, that if you are feeling sick or recognise symptoms, then present to our health authorities. With 40 new cases, that is not a good place to be.”

There are now 64 people who are positive and are in isolation.

It is all well and good to try to put a positive spin on the situation, but there needs to be an admission that there are factors influencing this disease that could swiftly spin things out of control.

Among the elements that we are watching very closely are the slowing pace of vaccinations against COVID-19 through the National Vaccination Programme, and the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that the Delta, which emerged in India, is currently widespread in the United States. We also know that it is spreading like wildfire in the UK, our country’s most important tourist source market.

The CDC, which is also the international bench marker on most things related to health, warns us that the variant is highly transmissible in indoor sports settings and households, which might lead to increased infection rates.

So serious is this version of the coronavirus that the World Health Organisation (WHO), has called it “the fastest and fittest” variant yet.

The global body says the variant is expected to become the dominant form of the disease worldwide. Delta is estimated to be about 55 per cent more transmissible than the alpha variant, according to the WHO.

Given this state of affairs, many are left to ponder whether the optimism around increasing tourism bookings for the winter season might now be in jeopardy.

Even more concerning, the question many may be contemplating is how much of a role is the Delta variant playing in the COVID-19 spike reported on the weekend, and whether our health care system can cope, were there to be an explosion of cases.

The clusters reported in one St George family, a St Michael church and a business place in the same parish are all worrying signs that we may have become complacent.

Our excitement at the previously falling number of reported new infections might have got the better of us. Now is the time to pull things back, reflect, and consider our next steps or this economy could implode again.