Govt ‘to say more’ on nine-year-old’s death as COVID toll rises four-fold over 2020

Health authorities have pledged to provide a full statement on Sunday’s death of a nine-year-old child at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital from complications of COVID-19.

Media reports out of Trinidad claimed the child died from a condition called Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, brought on by the coronavirus.  Dr Joanna Paul, Acting Medical Chief of Staff at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, was quoted as saying there were 26 such cases there.

In Tuesday’s COVID-19 update issued by the Barbados Government Information Service, the child’s death was confirmed as COVID-related.

The statement added: “The nine-year-old passed away at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Sunday.”

When Barbados TODAY reached out to Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George on Tuesday evening, he would only say that a full statement would be provided on Wednesday.

The child’s death was listed among two others – a 74-year-old woman from a nursing home and a 88-year-old woman with pre-existing medical issue.

These deaths bring the toll from the virus to 28 – four times as many in the first seven weeks of the year than in all of 2020.

According to the update, there were 126 new  COVID-19 cases on Monday.

The new cases include results of samples from over a 12-day period, as the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory works to reduce the backlog created by the temporary use of manual extraction in the processing of samples.

The lab conducted 1,251 tests on Monday.

The Ministry of Health said 38 people have recovered and were discharged from isolation. There are now 731 active cases on the island.

The 126 newest cases are made up 58 women and 68 men. Of these, 125 are Barbadians and one is a non-national.

The total number of staff and inmates diagnosed with COVID-19 at Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds is 363. All but two inmates have recovered.

Since the pandemic reached these shores, there have been 2,457 confirmed infections – 1,090 females and 1,367 males – and 1,698 persons have recovered.

Since February 2020, the public health laboratory has completed 115,813 tests. (randybennett@barbadostoday.bb)