No positive tests for two days

Health officials were today cautious but optimistic that Barbados may be witnessing a slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus as the daily round of tests turned up no new cases for two straight days.

But even with 65 negative tests in the last 48 hours, only about 965 tests have been conducted. Assuming all of those tested were Barbadian nationals, this means 0.34 per cent of the population of 287,375 has been tested.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Anton Best said: “It’s a good sign, but we want to warn people not to become complacent.

“They must continue to follow the public health advice to stay indoors as much as possible, and limit contact with others; practise proper hand hygiene and maintain physical distancing. These are the measures that give us the best chance of containing this outbreak, and we must stay on course.”

Of the 965 tests for COVID-19 conducted here since February 11, 75 were positive: 38 females and 37 males.

Five Barbadians have so far died from COVID-related causes, while 15 have recovered and 55 remain in isolation.