Health Minister advises public to mask up

Barbadians are now able to move around the island freely following weeks of lockdown but Minister of Health Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic has urged that they continue to wear masks to protect against contracting the Coronavirus,

He told journalists that Barbadians should be aware that the wearing of masks remains part of the pandemic response protocol which has not been officially relaxed.

Lt  Col Bostic said: “Protocols like mask-wearing have not been relaxed. I am quite sure that the Prime Minister made a statement in relation to the wearing of masks, especially in public spaces and in circumstances where social distancing may not be possible and that is why you would see that in most places that you go, especially government buildings, and so on, and supermarkets you are still required to wear masks, restaurants even.”

He also issued the reminder that while Barbados continues its COVID-19 testing and quarantine strategies; Government has been working with PAHO/WHO for a rapid coronavirus test. For the moment, and for the foreseeable future, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test will continue to be used.

The health minister also advised that contact-tracing efforts are a continuous process.

Lt Col Bostic said: “There has been contact-tracing because even the ones that came off of JetBlue, that resulted in some contact-tracing. So that process is ongoing and we have actually been able to do some additional testing for some persons.

“But for the most part, that would have been persons who came in on the same JetBlue aircraft. As long as there is a positive COVID-19 case there will always be contact tracing.”