BAMP backs safe zones, says it’s satisfied with regulations

Government’s COVID-free safe zones have finally received an apparent seal of approval from the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners.(BAMP)

After urging that the draft on safe zones be revisited amid claims of potential discrimination in the delivery of healthcare services, BAMP said it is now satisfied the legislation is not intended to and does not bar any patient from accessing healthcare whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated.

But in a COVID-19 update press conference on the weekend, Dr Lynda Williams said following consultations with Government where BAMP was able to express its concerns and make recommendations regarding the controversial legislation. She said health measures must be accepted and understood by all stakeholders in order for them to work.

Dr Williams said: “So, we are grateful for continuing the consultative process with all parties. We were concerned, as was the public, that the concept of a medical safe zone was not fully understood, with respect to healthcare. But as Minister [of Health and Wellness Lt Col Jeffrey] Bostic has just said, no patient should ever be disadvantaged in the access to healthcare.”

The BAMP president said the association was also concerned that the wide variety of healthcare providers who are more regularly exposed to COVID-19 would be a risk to the public with the highly transmissible Delta variant and that people who are seeking healthcare should never be exposed to an increased risk from their providers.

The doctor explained: “And that’s why the concept of a safe zone came into play. Now vaccinated and unvaccinated people we know can transmit the COVID-19 virus. But the unvaccinated can do so for a much longer period and more efficiently.

“Therefore, we believe that there must be surveillance at healthcare facilities, which means that we look for people who are infected, even before they become sick because in the early infectious period, you can have few or no symptoms and that’s the concept of surveillance.”

Under the COVID-19 Emergency Management Directive on the safe zones, vaccinated employees at nursing homes, private hospitals, senior citizens’ homes, dental offices, doctors’ offices, testing sites, quarantine facilities and isolation facilities are to be COVID-tested at least once every 42 days. Unvaccinated employees must be tested once weekly or as often as the Chief Medical Officer determines.

Also speaking during the COVID-19 update, Lt Col Bostic gave an assurance that the tests that will be used will not be as invasive as the PCR test.

Dr Williams said: “We are glad that the test which will be used in the future will be less invasive forms of testing such as a nasal self-swab which is supervised. So, it’s a self-administered swab and this will be used as a rapid test, a lateral flow test.

“And in many countries overseas this is done every day, for some people going into healthcare institutions and other major institutions.

“But we believe that some measure of knowing your status is really important in this fight and we will continue to sensitize our constituents and the public of why knowing your status is so important.”

The BAMP president reiterated that vaccination along with testing is Barbados’ way out of the COVID-19 pandemic, declaring vaccination “a major tool, along with other non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as hand sanitization, social distancing, and also the wearing of face masks and cough etiquette”.

“But we must not neglect all the other tools,” she added. “Caring for your body, taking medication, not smoking, limiting alcohol, and getting sunlight, diet, exercise, all are very important parts of the tool kit needed to fight this invisible enemy called COVID-19.” (AH)