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BAMP urges return to strict anti-COVID policy

by Barbados Today
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The Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) on Thursday appealed to Government to return to strict measures imposed during last year’s lockdown while the authorities grapple with a surge in COVID-19 cases.

BAMP president Dr Lynda Williams suggested that while the association backs Government’s recent adjustment of the December 31 curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., further action as need in light of a steady climb in positive cases of the viral infection.

She said in a video message on BAMP’s Facebook page: “We agree with the strategy of incremental restriction of population movement and believe the time has come for an escalation of this strategy. We respectfully suggest that Government entities should encourage employees to work from home wherever possible and that vulnerable workers must be shielded.

“We also call for a reduction of measures to prevent large gatherings such as the alphabet system for shopping and banking which worked so well for us at the beginning.”

In the Ministry of Health’s latest update on the coronavirus, there were 37 new cases on Wednesday from 2,004 tests conducted by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory.

The total number of confirmed cases stands at 780 – 334 females and 446 males.

Dr Williams voiced concern that much has been made as to whether Barbados has large unrelated clusters of the coronavirus or community spread when it was clear to all Barbadians that there has been a steady, steep rise in the number of cases over the last few days.

While she advised against panic, she stressed that Government had a duty, to be frank with the public.

“We call for transparency and clearer communication from our Government officials so that the public has confidence that we will get through this together,” Dr Williams said.

She also made it clear that while Government must continue to follow the science as it has persistently indicated, it must do so, “not based only on international opinion but also on local knowledge and expertise”.

The BAMP leader stressed the need for greater use of technology in the country’s response to the pandemic, voicing support for the recent introduction of electronic monitoring bracelets of visitors.

Dr Williams said: “BAMP has maintained from the very outset that technology for geofencing visitors with monitoring bracelets should have been rolled out from the time of the reopening our borders to prevent serious breaches in quarantine.

“Nevertheless, we welcome the introduction of this now and hope that both GPS, as well as Bluetooth, can be employed. We maintain that technology is also useful for contact tracing and that apps for identifying clusters have been developed for this purpose and can be downloaded on mobile phone for visitors and locals alike.”

She went on to underscore the importance of wearing a mask, reiterating that it should be mandatory.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley has indicated at a live national update on Monday that Cabinet has not taken a final position on mandatory mask-wearing but she was open to having a conversation about making it mandatory for indoor activities.

Dr Williams urged Barbadians to stick to wearing masks and other hygienic practices to protect themselves.

She declared: “Mask wearing and seemingly simple public health matters such as social distancing and hand sanitization have been proven to work and will be effective against viral transmission even when the virus undergoes a mutation. Wear your masks Bajan, wear your masks.”
(sandydeane@barbadostoday.bb)

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