Vacation quarantine?

An undisclosed number of passengers who arrived here aboard British Airways on Saturday have been placed in mandatory quarantine at the Harrison’s Point Isolation Facility after a 76-year old tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The development has also raised concerns that the measures could ruin vacations for dozens of tourists who spent thousands to come to the country, oblivious to the fact that they could end up spending their leisure time in quarantine.

On Monday, Health Minister Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic told Barbados TODAY that passengers sitting near to the elderly Barbadian would be tested again at a later date while at the St Lucy isolation centre.

He however could not definitively say how many had been isolated and/or how long the quarantine period would last, following news of the positive case that was announced on Sunday.

He also could not say whether the isolated individuals are tourists and/or the impact of the measures on their vacation itineraries.

Of the 218 passengers onboard flight 2155, 149 had validated COVID-19 PCR tests exempting them from being tested on arrival. The other 69 were tested on arrival and isolated pending the results including the 76-year-old who tested positive.

“Contact tracing is done regardless, but remember these people have been awaiting test results, so they have not gone into the community or home. It’s either the airport or the Crane (Hotel), and from there straight to Harrison’s Point,” Bostic told Barbados TODAY.

“So the contact tracing really and truly is based on the seats on the plane and where people were sitting, and there is a protocol for that, and depending on where you were sitting, you would be considered to have been in close contact.

“They would all have tested negative, but they will be in quarantine for a period and then tested again. Because of the incubation period, the ones who were sitting next to them would not have tested positive immediately. Those persons would be in quarantine and then they will be tested,” the health minister explained.

On Monday, news of a similar incident surfaced when a ten-year-old Barbadian child tested positive for the virus after arriving Sunday on an Air Canada flight carrying 125 people. Sixty-nine of those passengers were tested on arrival, while the others carried valid COVID-19 tests.

In response to the developments, the owner of a holiday rental property expressed concern that visitors may be coming to the country without knowing the full extent of the risks.

“We have some bookings for the winter months and two families booked for next month coming for two weeks from the UK. They are pre-testing, but in light of the flight that came in on the weekend where a positive case meant the quarantining of others on the same flight, I think it is my duty to be honest with our upcoming guests to point out this risk. I think they will cancel, and I think a lot of people may do the same,” the owner warned in a letter to Barbados TODAY.

“I think you [Government] should be clearer in your protocols, so people are aware of the risks they are taking. They should be warned of this possibility,” she suggested.

The decision not to test or quarantine persons arriving from low-risk jurisdictions with negative tests has been heavily criticized in political and some medical circles for exposing the country to too much risk.

Nevertheless, Bostic has continued to defend the protocols as being consistent with the best advice of local and international public health officials.

“We are going with the World Health Organisation’s regulations and with our own, so whoever is criticizing, they will have to tell me where they have gotten their advice and knowledge from. I don’t work like that. We are following our protocols.”
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb