One of the biggest fallouts from the period of frolic in Barbados over the Christmas holiday has been the dangerously rapid spread of COVID-19 in the community. Whether our health and governmental officials wish to call it community spread or clusters, it is a most uncomfortable state of affairs.
The point is that Barbadians from every walk of life are rightfully concerned that they are now at greater risk of catching the viral disease, which has affected millions around the world.
Worrying too is the number of seniors and persons with non-communicable diseases, whose welfare is even more threatened, if we are unable to quickly bring this existing spread under control.
A perusal of various social media platforms will provide ample evidence of citizens who are less than pleased with the way Government has handled the crisis, particularly following the surge of visitors from the United States and United Kingdom during the start of the winter tourist season.
Most have not waited for the Government to declare community spread exists. They know that as of today, anyone, from family member to friend, work colleague to total stranger, could be infected and possibly pass it on, unwittingly.
The infamous “Brandy and Punanny” ‘bus crawl’ has been vindicated as the “super-spreader” it was branded to be, thanks to a raft of public pressure for more detailed information on the various clusters of the disease that occurred.
Barbadians are now aware that our West Coast, the popular haunt for our rich and famous guests mainly from the United Kingdom, was actually the source of much worry as it has produced more than 100 cases of the infectious viral illness from various activities, bars and restaurants.
What the bus crawl and the West Coast clusters, however, have been linked to, is a much bigger, more highly sensitive problem. That is, the explosion of COVID-19 cases at Her Majesty’s Dodds Prison in St Philip. We, like many, suspect even without official acknowledgement, that the prison was collateral damage from the activities of the Christmas revelry.
The number of confirmed cases at the prison has reached 309, of which 239 are male inmates. That represents a significant infection rate among the male prison population.
To most observers, one may wonder why there is so much anxiety about what is happening at Dodds; given the fact that most of its occupants are expected to stay put at least for some time.
However, with more than 70 warders at the facility coming down with the infection, and many interacting with family members and friends before they were aware of their health status, one can understand the danger they likely posed to the rest of the population.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), in its guidance on protecting prison populations and prison staff, has urged rigorous attention to this vulnerable group.
One also cannot overlook the security implications of having so many trained officers unable to perform their duties at the prison, and possible discontent among the inmates.
The decision of the National Union of Pubic Workers (NUPW) to temporarily pull its civilian staff from the prison was an indication that the workers regard Dodds, as an even more dangerous place to work because of the outbreak.
The world body says the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff is critical. However, we have no evidence that the absence of PPE was a contributing factor to the illness’ spread in the St Philip facility.
Some of us may be ambivalent about the rights or health -including the mental state of our incarcerated. Some may take the position that they are bad persons, so why worry about them?
The calls from attorneys-at-law for the speedy release of those who have served their sentences, as well as some inmates who are on remand, requires careful thought.
What we do not want is for a health crisis at the penal institution to become an unmanageable security threat.
Also of consideration is the WHO’s guideline on the treatment of prisoners. Barbados has chosen to be in lockstep with the international body, regarding COVID-19 protocols.
It recommends: “The rights of all people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak must be upheld, and all public health measures must be carried out without discrimination of any kind. According to international human rights law, it is the responsibility of the State to ensure that people in prisons and other places of detention enjoy the same standards of health care that are available in the outside community, without discrimination on the grounds of their legal status.”
