DLP wants daily COVID-19 briefings

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) today called on Government to provide daily updates to the public, and urged the Mottley administration to let the public into its confidence.

Said party leader Verla DePeiza: “We therefore again call on the Government to determine a consistent time each day for the medical team to report to the nation with the unvarnished information. Let us into your confidence.”

Presenting “the reality” may well foster greater respect for the dictate to stay at home, DePeiza said.

She claimed that Barbadians were being informed of matters affecting the country by overseas media sources.

She said: “It is particularly disconcerting that we keep getting information about Barbados from outside media sources. This all has now called into question the veracity of other information presented. Barbadians first learned of a shortage of testing swabs on April 10 via a Trinidadian publication from Ambassador Commissiong. Health Minister Bostic revealed that there was a shortage days later on April 20th.”

DePeiza said there were still a number of pertinent questions which remain unanswered.

She said: “How long has our ability to test been compromised due to shortage of swabs or other equipment? How many persons have reached out to be tested and have been declined or postponed?

“Given the knowledge now that a person must test at least three times prior to release from isolation (the first positive and two subsequent negatives), how many persons have actually been tested to date? Have the ventilators been released by US Customs? If not, how does this affect our programme? How many visitors to the island have tested positive?”

DePeiza said that the DLP was stunned to realise that there was a period in time when Barbados was unable to sufficiently test for COVID-19 “due to lack of swabs”.

“Whilst there must be a fine balance between public health and public panic, this party holds the view that it was disingenuous to keep announcing “no new cases” when this was the likely result of the inability to test,” the DLP leader said.

Of “grave concern” to the political party is the frequency of complaints about the challenges faced by persons who are feeling unwell and wish to verify their status, she  said.

“It seems as though having a test conducted is like climbing a mountain. We believe that our medical professionals are more competent than suggested by the reports. So if these stories are true, what accounts for the less than ideal treatment?”

To date, there have been six deaths from 76 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 30 people have recovered.