Doctor worries about ‘critical’ patient

There is one other COVID-19 patient who is “actually quite ill”, Isolation Facilities Manager Dr Corey Forde revealed tonight.

The infectious diseases specialist, who was speaking on the CBC TV8 News Night programme, expressed concern about the prognosis for elderly patients who are being housed at the island’s three isolation facilities.

The doctor said: “What I want to mention particularly is in that section in Blackman and Gollop is one where we have a more elderly population who are quite ill. And specifically one other patient, there at present is actually quite ill which we are managing at this particular point.”

Dr Forde was speaking shortly after the country’s second COVID-19 related death was announced while the number of confirmed cases moved to 60. The deceased were aged 81 and 74.

He said: “I think it is important at the end of this to say that for the average Barbadian to understand a few facts given the trajectory of this disease and what we have seen internationally we are quite concern about our elderly population. It’s very, very important that every single Barbadian looks after those persons in the elderly population.

“So where there maybe people in your neighbourhood, in your community that you actually look after, see what is going on. But also the caregivers, if you know you are unwell, if you have respiratory illnesses it is important that you don’t just go to visit but you take care of yourself but also take care of the people around you.”

Forde, Head of the Infection Prevention and Control/Infectious Diseases Programmes at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital said it was vital for those who have COVID-19 symptoms to come forward earlier rather than later.

He said: “Our cases who have presented more severe came late. The later you present, the greater the propensity for you to have a worst presentation of worst outcome.

“If you [are] in the elderly population and you see they are unwell you try to present for medical care quite earlier as oppose to wait for much later.

“The presentations by that time are often quite difficult because they often have sever pneumonia and damage to their lungs which makes things much more complicated for us.”

Dr Forde said certain aspects of Bajan culture had to be curtailed during this time.

He declared: “The Barbadian culture is if my mother has to go off to work and there are kids around they may have a snotty nose and a cold you are not sure what they have, very often the thing to do is to send them to their grandparents but one needs to relook at that in this particular event.

“This whole COVID-19 pandemic has thought us several things and it’s some of the small things we have to look at. I challenge every Barbadian as we go through this out break stay at home stay in as is requested by all the healthcare professionals but also look after the less fortunate.”

About the man who died from COVID-19 today, the doctor said the authorities had identified the source of his infection.

Dr Forde said: “We were able to find the source of his infection which was a traveller coming in from the US which he was directly related to.

“She came in and she was one of the [more sick] patients that we have seen very early in the disease and I am happy to say today that she is walking around and well at Blackman Gollop.

“The deceased was an elderly patient with many other co-morbidities as well. I think due to the work of the Ministry of Health, he was actually found because of the screening programme, which we have had so we were able to track and find him within the population.”