A Barbadian molecular biologist with expertise in gene therapy research to treat rare diseases has penned a harsh rebuke of the Mia Mottley administration’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, prompting the Prime Minister to invite the researcher to meet with her.
In an opinion column for the non-profit Antillean Media Group, Dr Melissa Goddard, an expert in molecular biology, physiology and pharmacology, sided with the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) which has been at odds with Government over some COVID-19 policies.
Dr Goddard made clear that despite the clinicians’ warnings, Barbados maintained a “too-short two-day quarantine” for incoming travellers and inadequate testing protocols when the borders remained opened last July.
In response, Mottley said she does not “necessarily agree” with the research scientist but declared she has no intention of “rubbishing any perspective or idea” from Barbadians at home or in the Diaspora.
Mottley said: “We want to hear the views of our people, whether resident here or abroad. We will listen. We are in this together and I have always said that many hands make light work. I want to see all views contending as the country grapples with COVID-19 and the range of health, social and economic issues that it has spawned.
“In relation to an article I recently read, which was penned by Dr Melissa Goddard, I must confess that while I don’t necessarily agree, I believe she has a perspective that needs to be heard. I wish to use this opportunity to invite her to meet with me in the near future, so I can hear what she has to say in greater detail.”
In the article, titled COVID surge in Barbados points to policy failures, Dr Goddard said: “When the primary concern should have been to prevent the importation of new cases, the decision was made to institute a too short two-day quarantine for incoming travellers, far below the then scientifically-established standard of two weeks.”
Dr Goddard continued: “Reports on how difficult it was to keep tourists in isolation flooded the region, raising questions about the ability to effectively curtail the movement of potentially infectious visitors. Still, authorities resisted change, insisting that two negative qPCR COVID tests – one prior to travel and a second at the exit of quarantine – were an adequate countermeasure.”
She raised concerns that the negative tests, together with a short quarantine which was later extended to five days, raised the possibility of false-negative tests a person can have and transmit COVID-19.
Dr Goddard’s central criticism was the reliance on testing incoming travellers while failing to carry out “regular, widespread testing of the local population”. She suggested that Government must ramp up testing of the population and deliver effective and concise communication to the public.
But Prime Minister Mottley declared Wednesday that not much could be gained from focusing on the “rearview mirror” as she turns her attention to Government’s vaccination campaign which has so far seen over 22,000 people receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Mottley said: “In a week’s time, I am confident that I will be in a position to give Barbadians even better news as it relates to that. So, I look forward to meeting with Dr Goddard and hearing her perspective – whether virtually or actual face-to-face.
“Barbadians in the Diaspora are Barbadians, and the position of this Government is that they have a role to play in the developmental process of this island. So, we welcome their views and perspectives and will create the right mechanism or facility where their voices can be heard, and their views analysed by persons in decision-making positions in Barbados.”
Since obtaining her PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, Dr Goddard has led research studies at Genethon, a French not-for-profit research centre that was created by France’s Muscular Dystrophy Association (AFM). Généthon is now a centre for global preclinical and clinical research and development in the field of gene therapy, with a goal to deliver gene therapies to patients with rare diseases, particularly neuromuscular diseases like muscular dystrophy. (SD/PMO)
