Health authorities are fearful that the COVID-19 cluster from the church in the north has the potential to “get beyond us,” even as they investigate the latest cluster involving some Cuban nurses at a testing facility, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Kenneth George has disclosed.
Without going into details on the latter development, Dr George revealed Monday that the Ministry of Health and Wellness has had to turn to “novel ways” to track down those contacts from the church cluster who know who they are but refuse to come forward.
“We are using all tools at our disposal to try to contact persons who were on our list, but who have not either come forward or because their contact information was flawed. We will make every effort using all systems at our disposal.
“I will not be going into those details, but we are using some novel ways to contact people who are on a list, but who we don’t have contact information for,” the Chief Medical Officer told Barbados TODAY this afternoon.
“The situation which has the potential to get beyond us is the church cluster. They still remain a bit unknown and persons have either used the opportunity to either go into obscurity or have not come forward…and these individuals know who they are…and we will put some measures in place to see where possible we can contact these people,
he declared.
But despite the challenges faced in locating those people who may potentially be infected by the virus, the Government’s chief medical advisor has still struck a chord of reassurance to Barbadians.
“We are making progress and we will get through this also. We have had some difficulty in making contact with a few of the contacts and that’s why the minister had to appeal to persons who might have been in contact with persons from the church to report for testing
“…But I would say that at present we have the situation under control,” said Dr George.
The Chief Medical Officer said investigations are continuing into the matter involving the Cuban nurses.
“We continue to work with persons at the testing facility to get to the bottom of the cases that were brought to the attention of the Ministry of Health,” said.
Dr George also acknowledged that “any cluster was of a major concern” especially if it occurs in a health facility.
“We get worried, yes,” he added.
However, he again sought to assure the country that the situation will be managed.
“Just as we had clusters at the hospital and just as we had clusters in the past in our polyclinics, we will manage this too,” he insisted.
Last Friday during a press conference to update the country on the COVID-19 situation and the national clean-up efforts, following the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, appealed to persons associated with the church cluster to “come forward” and get tested for the virus.
He asked them to report to the Wildey Gymnasium testing site or one of the healthcare facilities for testing, warning that if they delayed and do have symptoms, it could be detrimental to their health.
Bostic disclosed that nine of the 12 positive cases recorded last Thursday were directly and indirectly related to the church cluster.
He explained that two families comprising four and three members each, were directly connected to the place of worship.
“Then, there was a family of two indirectly connected because they were connected directly to one of the other institutions that have been impacted by this church cluster.
“Although these statistics are low, my concern and…[that] of the ministry, is the fact that they are all related to this church cluster….
“This right now is occupying the attention, more than anything else, of the Ministry of Health and Wellness in our fight against the COVID pandemic,” he declared.
He said his ministry was closely investigating and monitoring the situation and gave the assurance that whatever was necessary would be done.
(emmanuel joseph@babadostoday.bb)
