There is no community spread of COVID-19 in Barbados but authorities won’t be easing up on the existing protocols anytime soon.
The head of the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit Ronald Chapman gave that assurance in response to a question posed by Barbados TODAY about a situation that has raised concerns on social media. In the daily situation briefing on the COVID-19 situation, the Ministry of Health reported on August 29 that a 22-year-old Barbadian female was known to have contact with a visitor from the United Kingdom, which led to speculation that a breach had occurred.
“My last statistics in May showed that we would have had 71 cases and of those 71, 69 were imported. There were two persons who would have caught the disease from persons who came into the island but through our contact tracing we were able to nip that in the bud to prevent it from getting into the wider community,” Chapman said.
“So, presently in Barbados, given our statistics and our testing and so on, there is no community spread in Barbados right now.”
When asked about the strict protocols being enforced on the public, given that the majority of cases are imported, Chapman said: “We have to establish that there is no system that is fool proof…. Eventually, and we have seen this, someone will get past the barrier and get into the island.”
“It may seem a little harsh for some people, but look at it this way: we will have those protocols or we go back into lockdown…. Those are the two options and I don’t think that the second option is one that anyone is interested in,” he added.
“We have begun commercial flights back into Barbados, we have put protocols at the airports and you will see protocols coming out for the seaports very shortly, concerning persons coming into the island…. We have had instances with persons coming in with negative tests and for whatever reason when we retested them they were positive.”
The head of the monitoring unit also responded to Barbadians blaming the new COVID-19 cases and the subsequent restrictions on tourists.
“I know persons have the idea that it is the tourists. It is anyone who is coming into Barbados who may be coming from a high-risk destination. Once they get here, we have to ensure that they are welcomed and can move around and enjoy the land as we do…but we also have to ensure that the community here in Barbados put the necessary measures in places to protect themselves.”
Chapman added that it is because of those protocols that people here continue to have the freedoms that those in other countries still do not.
Barbados’ COVID-19 count now stands at 180 confirmed cases, with 17 people currently in isolation. (KB)
