Barbados records 12 new cases of COVID-19

Barbados has recorded 12 new cases of COVID-19, acting Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kenneth George announced Saturday.

He told a news conference that of 248 tests conducted on Friday, 12 returned positive results.

All of the individuals are asymptomatic.

Dr. George said nine of those testing positive are from the group of nurses who arrived from Ghana on Thursday.

All of the nurses went into 14 days quarantine on arrival in Barbados.

The other three include a Barbadian female who returned to the island on July 29; a male visitor who arrived on July 30; and a Barbadian man who arrived from the United Kingdom with a negative test, but who when required to test to travel again returned a positive result.

STATEMENT BY DR. KENNETH GEORGE, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER:

Good afternoon,

I stand here reassured in our decision to use only the gold standard PCR COVID-19 test, as well as in our decision in the last month to institute a second test on day seven for persons coming from high-risk countries.

This is because I have been advised that of the 248 tests conducted by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory yesterday, there were 12 positive cases, but all persons are asymptomatic – that is, they show no symptoms whatsoever.

Nine of them are from Ghana, from among the nurses who arrived on Thursday. The other 86 tested negative. It should be noted that all of the nurses went into a 14-day quarantine on arrival.

In addition, we are increasing monitoring and surveillance at the designated facilities. This was, and is always understood to be a necessary precaution.

The other three cases are: 1) A Barbadian female who returned to the island on July 29; 2) a male visitor who arrived on July 30; and 3) a Barbadian man who arrived from the United Kingdom with a negative test, but who when required to be tested to travel again, returned a positive test result.

We are still investigating the circumstances of the last case. This will require extensive contact tracing, which the population is so aware that the public health team does on a daily basis.