Country applauded for COVID measures

Barbados has been given a passing grade for its management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The commendation is coming from the Coordinator of the COVID-19 vaccine programme at two hospitals in Maryland, Washington, Rev Dr Kirtley Yearwood, where 11,300 people were immunized between December 18 and last Friday.

Yearwood, a Barbados-born medical doctor, pathologist and administrator, was one of the panelists at Government’s COVID-19 update and press conference today.

“Barbados is doing quite well…with a very low positivity rate…a very low death rate, you are doing extremely well.  It is always easy for a small nation to lock itself down and isolate…and therefore I have been very impressed with the measures taken by the Government to curtail the spread of this disease,” said Yearwood who is the Chief Mission Officer of the Holy Cross Health, a not-for-profit Catholic health care system that caters to 240,000 patients per year from Maryland’s two largest counties.

“We have to say, however, that we are human beings. Staying on lockdown, a lack of socialization is hard on people. It is natural to want to get out and mix and mingle with your friends and family…so it is challenging,” said the pathologist whose health system also owns ten primary specialized care clinics and a home care hospice.

He joined the chorus of health care professionals imploring residents to adhere to the protocols.

“It is so very important for people to maintain those measures as a way to curtail the spread. If we relax ourselves and start hanging out and partying and going to the various rum shops and so on, then we have the tendency to spread this disease even more. You know, we cannot see the enemy, that is why it is so hard,” he declared.

He reminded Barbadians that when they wear masks, they are protecting themselves and others, cautioning that people can have the virus and do not know they are transmitting it.

“Once you have the vaccination, you may still have the disease. You’re just not likely to get sick to be hospitalized…you can still spread [it].  It is important that when you do receive the vaccination to maintain the social distancing, wear the mask and wash your hands,” Dr Yearwood contended.

“The longer people wait and make decisions about ‘I may or may not take it’, we are only prolonging the likelihood of the COVID virus hanging around even longer. The only way to curtail the spread is really to maintain those measures,” Yearwood stated. (EJ)