Three people in critical condition at Harrison’s Point isolation facility

Three people are in critical condition at the Harrison’s Point Isolation Facility, and two of those individuals are fighting for their lives.

Head of the facility and Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr Corey Forde said the two Barbadians are on ventilators and can be classified as severely ill, while the other individual, a young female, is stable as she receives required care.

During today’s COVID-19 update press conference, Dr Forde said he was concerned that out of the three individuals in the general Intensive Care Unit (ICU), two are in the 40-plus age group.

He also stressed that over the past week there has been an increase in the number of young people being admitted to the facility, and one of them was a male in his 20s who just a few days ago was being closely monitored because he was quite ill. He said, the people who are seriously ill in isolation, have no underlying health conditions.

One non-national is in secondary isolation and she is recovering well, Dr Forde said, adding that one pregnant woman, six children and two males, and two females between the ages of two to 15 years old are at the facility.

Dr Forde said: “What is important about that information I just give you is that COVID has gone nowhere. And I think that Barbados is at this particular point, we are at a strategic cross road, and we desperately need the help of the public to help us in this particular respect.

“We need people from the heights, from the terraces, from the blocks, from the middle class, to the children, to the adults, those in the rural areas to help us to calm this particular situation. But additionally, I need not only Barbadians, but I need all the residents across this country and visitors to work with us.

“If you have a cough, a cold, a fever, if you have shortness of breath, if you think your sinuses gone off, if you have a headache, if you have diarrhea like some of the patients presented with it, I am asking you, I am pleading with you as we try to figure out and get things together back into this country where we were a few weeks ago. Go and get tested”.

The specialist noted that a number of people, who were recently diagnosed with COVID-19 since June 22, had symptoms and remained at home, and were still going about their daily activities.

Dr Forde said many young people being diagnosed with COVID-19 are citing the uncertainty of the symptoms they experienced, as the reason they waited late to seek medical attention.

“We are having young people between the average age of 25 and 27 and that is worrisome. They all had symptoms. If these people presented to the health-care system or went to their doctors, things probably would have been different,” he said.

Dr Forde urged Barbadians to be proud of what the country has accomplished in its COVID-19 fight dating back from January to present, as there are still many countries struggling to get here. However, the physician stressed that in order for Barbados to remain in this position, all citizens and residents must play their role.

And with the Government’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign in full swing, Dr Forde informed the press conference that not one person who has been fully vaccinated has gone to the isolation facility to be treated for the illness.

“And that alone speaks volumes. I don’t even know what evidence I can give you to encourage those to be vaccinated. Nobody can force you to be vaccinated, but I really expect you after this press conference to use a bit of common sense,” he said. (AH)