Rise in coronavirus cases linked to travellers

Barbados notched a record in daily infections of the coronavirus with 16 new cases, the Ministry of Health announced Thursday.

The cases appear to stem from the arrivals of travellers from developed countries where the virus has been running rampant, particularly the UK which has reported a new, more highly infectious strain of the virus.

A brief statement did not state whether the new strain had reached these shores.

But the health authorities said they are up to the task of handling the steadily rising number of cases, as the United States and Britain grapple with an out-of-control surge in the pandemic.

The ministry said the positive tests were actually recorded on Tuesday, “the highest single day total of positives since the beginning of the pandemic”.

But so far, “based on initial assessment, all cases are asymptomatic,” the ministry said, meaning no one of the 16 has been struck ill by COVID-19.

In the announcement, the health ministry said: “The total number of tests performed by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory for December 22 was 1,095.  Over 64,000 tests have been conducted by the Laboratory to date.”

It said the cases came from the US, Canada and the UK. All 16 people are being kept for observation at the Harrison’s Point coronavirus hospital ‘in keeping with our usual protocol”, it added.

The Ministry of Health maintained that although these infections have been increasing over the last two weeks, the appropriate staffing and inpatient capacity to manage the cases are in place.

Earlier this week, Minister of Health and Wellness Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic revealed that the second test given after arrival now detects 90 per cent of the positive cases being recorded.

On arrival, travellers are required to present the results of a valid PCR test. Those without a prior test are tested and then placed in quarantine. It is there, either at the designated hotel or government facility, that a second test is administered.

“Our experience in Barbados has been that the second test now accounts for over 90 per cent of the positive cases that we are getting in Barbados,” the minister said. “So, we are capturing persons at the point of entry and that is vital.”

He ruled out the idea of banning flights from the UK, insisting that the country would stick with the science and World Health Organisation/Pan American Health Organisation guidance on the matter.

But Lt. Col. Bostic has stressed the need for Barbadians to continue to follow the protocols to keep the virus at bay. Total cases on the island now stand at 345.

“We believe that once we continue to hold fast to our protocols and do exactly what we have been doing or try to do it better, in any area that we have been found wanting at any point of time, then we believe that we would be able to contain any spread of COVID, whatever strain that comes to Barbados,” he said.

While stopping short of calling for an end to social gatherings common during the holiday season, the health ministry made an “appeal to the public to assist them in maintaining this level of control by complying with all Ministry of Health and Wellness directives and protocols”.

Half of coronavirus cases in the UK appear to be the new strain of the disease, amid a ‘sharp’ increase in the spread of the virus there.

In England, 49 per cent of newly-diagnosed cases could be the VUI-202012/01 variant, data show.

British health authorities say the new variant is more transmissible, which led to the introduction of strict ‘stay-at-home’ restrictions for millions of Britons across the populous south and south-east of England including London. 
(SD)