Barbados has recorded its first death related to COVID-19, Minister of Health and Wellness, Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic announced today.
The deceased is an 81-year-old Barbadian man who travelled to the United Kingdom and returned to Barbados on March 22.
He, along with his wife, 83, were tested for COVID-19 yesterday after reporting symptoms. They both tested positive for the viral illness.
“The condition of the deceased man, who had underlying medical conditions, deteriorated rapidly after being admitted into care,” Bostic said during a news conference.
“I was informed of his death late last night from COVID-19-related pneumonia and complications of diabetes.”
Bostic used the opportunity to extend “deepest condolences” from the Government and people of Barbados to the family and friends of the deceased, saying they could “take solace in knowing that the God we serve continues to keep you and all of us in his care”.
The minister also expressed appreciation for the medical professionals “who at great personal risk to themselves, continue to care for and treat those infected with COVID-19 and who provided this gentleman with the best available medical care”.
He said: “These brave Barbadians, the other public health staff directly involved in the COVID-19 response, and the entire cohort of staff working in the public and private sector to maintain the high quality health care that Barbados has become known for, deserve our support, our prayers and our deepest respect.”
He also announced that a 100-person team of intensive care specialists from the Republic of Cuba will arrive in Barbados today to provide respite and support for medical teams who have been on the front lines of treating those with COVID-19, working gruelling hours in the most demanding of circumstances
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So them returned on march 22nd and got tested yesterday and he died last night uuuuumm
So the whole plane load could have it, and have passed it on to countless people……..
This is where the ball was dropped. Anyone entering the island at that time should have been put in mandatory Government quarantine for 14 days! No questions asked. By the 22nd we knew what was going on in the rest of the world.
This sounds as if Pappy contracted the virus here……if they came the 22nd and he had underlying health issues it’s more than likely his health would have deteriorated before….ijs
You would think that the ppl who suppose to be in charge would have seen this by now, every one coming in barbados after january 31 should be quarantine, up to now this have been a poor effort by the pppl placed in charge of this campaign, health minister include, only ppl that should be allowed in the country are nationals and citizens, you had a man coming in on march 22nd and died on april 5, 14 days after he came home, which tells you now that he might have had the virus for at least a week before, dont tell me he pick up the virus to the air port or at the airport on on the plane, he had it for a few days prior, may be 5 days, so this 14 day quarantine should be extended to at least 21 days, just to be on the safe side, since no one really knows how this new man made modified virus really works i think you should give your self the time, to really see if it is a 14 day limit and that is by extending the time, you have nothing to loose if you are saying that safety is first, this is not a guessing game, just dont rely on the international world to solve all the problem, try and help solve them too, you might come across something that they them selves didnt think of, stop trying to be such a lazy bunch and try and help your self,
But you cant expect anything better when you got dr corey ford involved in this, if as i understand by a number of ppl at the QEH that he dont want to have an autoclave in the ot working, as a nurse said how will you flash an instrument if you need it in a hurry if that piece of instrument drop, and there are a lack of instrument and operating sets, you only get 2 and 3 hour cycles, so you can flash anything, and as a guy told me how can you have a nurse heading the cssd and never spend a day in the OT, dont know how to wash or rap the set, and she in charge when there are OT nurses there who have years of working in sterilization, the friends thing must stop, you must pick your best ppl for the job, this higher education with no working experience is what grinding barbados to a stop, you cant expect to bring those ppl with this new education and put them about the older ppl and expect the old folks to train them, let them come in and work and gain the knowledge,, you cant run a department on book knowledge, there are thing that you will come across that you wont see in a book, and you would need to have the know how to solve them,