Ministry confirms coronavirus sufferers from US flight

Health authorities revealed tonight that the two women who tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Barbados in the wee hours of this morning came on the same flight from the US.

Speaking on the CBC News Night, Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George revealed that they arrived in the island last Friday aboard a JetBlue flight from the United States. Two JetBlue flights originating in New York arrived on Friday though Dr George could not identify which flight they arrived on.

“I don’t know the flight number [at the moment]. What I would say is that it was on a JetBlue Airline,” the Chief Medical Officer disclosed.

He assured Barbadians that the people who had been immediately in close contact with the two patients will be tested.

Dr George said: “They will require testing.  They will certainly require testing if they have symptoms.

“I am happy to report, at this point in time, that the close contacts have not been symptomatic.

“So we believe that we have caught these two cases fairly early in the game… and we believe that our surveillance system is working.”

Dr George said authorities are in the process of determining the specific airline flight on which the two people arrived here by use of the contact tracing system.

He said: “We have said that in this early phase contact tracing is required.  This is a methodical way where we try to go back into the person’s history and see where the contacts were made. So that process has started. We have engaged the airlines to let them know what our thinking is, and they have agreed to work with us.”

Strongly denying that Government had covered up the two cases until the last minute, Dr George said the two women, a 48-year-old visitor and a 39-year-old Barbadian, are now housed in separate locations, one at the Isolation Unit and the other at the Paragon army base in Christ Church.

He said: “They are not very ill at this point in time. Let me be clear.

“We have tried to indicate to the Barbadian public over and over, that Barbados was never going to be excluded with the arrival of COVID. Let me reiterate.

Eighty per cent of cases will have mild disease and those cases will not be required to even interact with a health care facility.”

The Chief Medical Officer noted that another ten per cent will require more invasive monitoring and five per cent ventilation.

Dr George said the information on the two patients was revealed to the Ministry of Health by the public health laboratory which up to yesterday had carried out 14 tests and an additional ten today.

“Let me let the Barbadian public know that at present we have the facility for 600 tests and we are going to be ramping this up with respect to having those kits available,” he assured.

The chief medical officer’s appearance with the COVID-19 czar Richard Carter, bookended a day that began with a nationally broadcast announcement by Minister of Health and Wellness Lt Col. Jeffrey Bostic, who informed the nation of the confirmation earlier that morning that the tests on the duo were positive for the presence of COVID-19.

The Minister revealed that the two were tested yesterday after presenting with viral symptoms, which prompted a response from the Ministry of Health’s team.

“Both patients were experiencing symptoms of a viral infection and were referred to the team at the Ministry of Health and Wellness for further evaluation. The Best-dos Santos Laboratory informed us this morning that the samples taken tested positive. Both patients are being managed for COVID-19 and have been placed in isolation where they will stay until they get better,” said Bostic during a live briefing from his office at Culloden Road.

In assuring the public that there was no need for panic, Bostic revealed that the ministry was now in the process of finding individuals who may have come in contact with these persons. It was further revealed that the pair were among 14 individuals tested yesterday. The other 12 people were negative.

Lt. Col. Bostic said: “The Ministry of Health and Wellness has started to contact and trace every individual who came into close contact with these patients. These persons will all be placed in quarantine for 14 days.

“Our priority as the Ministry of Health is to ensure that COVID-19 is contained and do all in our power to prevent in-country transmission.”

He revealed that Stage One of Government’s COVID-19 plan has been activated in an effort to curtail any spread of the disease, which has claimed the lives of almost 8.000 people globally.

The plan dictates that all public gatherings such as sporting and cultural events or any event that attracts crowds will be restricted to 100 people.

Visits by members of the public to all public and private geriatric institutions are suspended until further notice. Visits to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital are restricted to protect elderly patients as well as those suffering from non-communicable diseases.

The isolation centre at Enmore, just across the street from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, has been set up with six isolation beds and quarantine facilities are in place at the Paragon Base in Christ Church and the Elayne Scantlebury Centre, River Bay, St. Lucy. Additionally, quarantine and isolation facilities will be available at Harrison’s Point “within weeks”

As Minister of Health, Lt. Col. Bostic said he was committed to doing all in his power to “protect the health and ensure the safety of every person resident here. I therefore want to assure the public that there is no need for panic. This is the time for vigilance and being our brother’s keeper.”

Since the news broke this morning, there have been reports of continued panic-buying, despite a plea on television by Prime Minister Mia Mottley to dissuade people from the practice. At Popular Discount, Kendall Hill, Barbados TODAY was told that mere minutes after Lt. Col Bostic’s announcement, Barbadians began pouring into the grocery, stocking up on supplies.

This morning’s briefing, which did not allow for questions from the media, left a number of questions unanswered, such as the country’s capacity to test on a wider scale, as all medical experts agree that this is the only way to gauge the true extent of the spread in any country.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb