‘Under pressure but we can handle it – health officials

There is no shortage of resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, health authorities maintained on Monday even as they acknowledged challenges amid a surge of infections.

“We have challenges, no doubt about that, but that is nature of the war,” Health Minister Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bostic told a news conference at Ilaro Court.

“What we are doing at the moment is rationalising our operations to see if we are effectively utilizing the resources that we have at the moment  and also improving in the area of technology.”

His response comes mere days after the head of the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit, Ronald Chapman, said the Delta variant has made life much more challenging for the unit and others involved in the battle against the pandemic, as it was moving faster than expected.

Chapman said: “You can have resources in terms of buildings, and vehicles, but the main challenge with Barbados is personnel; we have the same group of people doing a lot of the critical things because the competency pool is not as diverse as that in more developed countries, so it means people now have to span wide expanses of responsibilities.

“We only have so many doctors and nurses, and what Delta has shown us is that it can overwhelm a system very easily. Even if we got another 100 doctors, if we do not change our behaviours and practices and get more serious, even those extra doctors will be overworked.”

Days earlier, Director of Medical Services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital  Dr Clyde Cave said the increase in isolation facilities was putting additional pressure on the hospital’s staff.

But weighing in on the issue on Monday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said she was unaware of any concerns. She however made clear that central government has always responded immediately and favourably to any calls for additional resources from the Ministry of Health.

She said: “At no stage since we have come to government has my Ministry of Finance ever refused a request from the Ministry of Health. The mInister is here and he can confirm that once they have come to us,  once it is personnel or money, we responded with dispatch.

“So I am not sure, there are a lot of conversations going on, I wouldn’t mind being part of them.”

Lt. Col. Bostic maintained that his ministry was not worried about resources at this stage but added that “if I need additional numbers I will get them once I put the case to the Ministry of Finance”.

Prime Minister Mottley disclosed that some of the Cuban nurses which arrived here in April last year would be returning home for holiday next week. She stressed that no resources would be removed from QEH.

She said another batch of nurses is also set to arrive from Havana, possibly another 10 even as Government continues talks with Ghana to secure more nurses.

“We are working with Ghana and expect to hear back from the Ghanaians shortly and when I go to the UN general assembly to meet also the President of Ghana next week again,” said Mottley.

Government is also reaching out to medical personnel in the diaspora to shore up the local system.

“We are hoping that we can have sessions with them in North America and the United Kingdom to see some of whom may be willing to come home and spend a few weeks and also help as well.” (SD)