Growing numbers of COVID-19 positive young people worrying

There’s growing concern about the numbers of young people included among the country’s COVID-19 statistics.

And according to Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Bostic, it’s high time that parents and guardians take greater responsibility for the actions of their children.

During Monday evening’s wide-ranging press conference, Minister Bostic revealed that among the 214 cases identified out of 1,706 tests on Monday’s dashboard, 55 were under 18.

He said this is part of a growing trend, seemingly unique to the Delta strain of the virus that saw a whopping 872 under 18s recorded among the COVID-19 positives between September 1st and October 10th.

“I have spoken to this worrying trend before and I think for me and for the team at the Ministry of Health and Wellness this has been one of the game-changing events or occurrences in this current surge caused by Delta,” Bostic declared.

“Currently in our isolation facilities as at 7 o’clock this morning [Monday], we have had about 113 persons under 18 and this is a game changer as I said because this is not something that we were seeing previous to this surge. And what I would like to continue to urge all parents and guardians and wards, and families, that we have a responsibility to our children, especially at this time and I would like to urge all persons to ensure that those who are old enough to take the vaccine that they do so, because it is in their interest, it is in the interest of the education system and in the national interest,” the health minister added.

When pressed further on the increasing numbers, Bostic added that many people of all age groups are continuing to flout the country’s protocols. In fact, he lamented that in times of face-to-face classes, the number of children contracting the virus remained relatively low.

Added to the growing number of infected children is an increasing number of sick patients across the board based on statistics from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and specifically the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department. According to Bostic, 74 per cent of persons in isolation facilities are in secondary isolation at the main Harrison’s Point Isolation Centre.

Consequently, health officials are preparing to refit the section of the St Lucy facility currently used to facilitate mildly ill or asymptomatic patients with the installation of oxygen to keep up with the trends on the ground.

“We are fighting an enemy that is evolving, that is changing, that is doing things differently and so we have to re-adjust our strategies and our tactics to be able to remain in this fight and that is something that we have been doing,” said Bostic.

Public health officials are also coping with the Geriatric Hospital and another elder care facility where outbreaks of COVID-19 are active.

In relation to the recently rolled out home isolation, Bostic revealed that numerous private sector led teams are conducting dozens of assessments and contact tracing with assistance from medical officers of health attached to polyclinics on the island. He anticipates that within 48 hours, outstanding issues will be ironed out, including nagging transportation problems.

“I am happy to say that a few hundred people have been transported from home based on the assessment and triaging process and we have been able to move a few persons that we have classified as red or persons who are ill and needed urgent attention. That has been going quite well,” said Bostic.

“So all of these things put together will give us greater capacity to move a bit faster with the home isolation process and we expect that within a few days we would be able to get this to the point where it is much more manageable so that persons who are at home that we want to get out will get out in good time,” he added.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb