Health Local News Iran, northern Italy added to COVID-19 watch list Barbados Today05/03/2020048 views Dr Kenneth George Iran and three districts in northern Italy have now joined the list of countries from which travellers entering Barbados will be subjected to mandatory quarantine for COVID-19, the Ministry of Health announced today. All arriving passengers who have been in Iran, or Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna or Veneto in Italy in the previous 14 days are required to report to Port Health at the points of entry, the ministry said in a statement. Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George said these passengers will be interviewed by port health officers and sent to mandatory quarantine. The type of quarantine is determined by the level of risk of exposure. Low-risk individuals, he explained, are sent to home quarantine while moderate to high-risk individuals are sent to mandatory quarantine. Quarantine measures are already in place for passengers who in the 14 days have been in Hubei Province in China, where the new strain of coronavirus is presumed to have originated, and South Korea, where it later spread. In making the announcement today, the Ministry of Health urged non-essential travel be avoided to the countries on the watch list. People were also advised to take “enhanced precautions in terms of their respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene” when travelling to areas where community spread of Covid-19 has been reported, including Washington state, California and Oregon in the United States, the ministry added.