#BTEditorial – Time for a national ‘safe zone’

We have reached a milestone we have long dreaded.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness recorded 101 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic even as new infections reached 342 on Monday to add to the overall tally that nears 12,000 cases since March 2020.

A 59-year-old woman and an 88-year-old man died in the Accident & Emergency Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.  They were unvaccinated.

A 76-year-old man succumbed to the virus at the Harrison Point Isolation Facility.  He too was unvaccinated.

Our health experts have acknowledged that we are in the third wave of the virus and they have repeatedly cautioned that a spike in deaths is inevitable in light of the more virulent Delta variant widespread in communities.

They are equally worried about the growing numbers of young people falling sick to the virus. Figures provided by Health and Wellness Minister Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic on Monday revealed that  872 children tested positive between September 1 and October 10.

Authorities have pleaded with Barbadians to stick to the protocols: wash your hands, maintain a safe physical distance and wear masks.

Most of all, they have beseeched all of us to get vaccinated to ensure the best layer of protection against the virus that’s claiming our loved ones, upending our lives and livelihoods and threatening our mental stability.

To date, 62.4 per cent of those eligible for vaccination – 142, 623 people – have received their first shots, but that still falls short of the 70-80 per cent needed to achieve herd immunity.

We are at the crossroads in our efforts to address the Delta wave and move beyond COVID-19.

By now it must be clear that the virus which appeared here more than 18 months ago intends to remain an unwelcomed visitor and there’s no going back to what used to be. We simply have to learn to survive with this ever-changing microscopic enemy.

The options are not many and the time for dawdling is over.

We have been warned by certified health experts here and far beyond that a vaccinated population is the safest and best way for the country to function and return to a measure of normalcy. Nevertheless, thousands have not been forthcoming to take the jab and time is evidently not our side as the Delta variant continues its relentless march to infect unsuspecting victims.

Lockdowns and shutdowns have all been ruled out by the Government and are strongly opposed by a business community that struggled to keep doors open and the lucky ones employed in the midst of an economic standstill.

Barbados simply has no room to accommodate ongoing disruption and uncertainty in business and people’s lives. Not to mention that our children are not coping well with online instruction. They need to get back to their classrooms and their teachers.

The Prime Minister has tabled another option to keep the runaway viral infections at bay – safe zones.

She announced new guidelines were coming for the creation of “safe zones” where workers will be required to take the vaccine or undergo testing for the coronavirus at the State’s expense in public institutions.

Mottley said: “ We have to start the safe zones, where we have places where people are either vaccinated or recently tested.  At the end of the day that is what matters is that you are safe and not in a position to put people at risk. So if you are not prepared to take the vaccine, then you would have to be prepared to be tested to assure the rest of us that as we mix at work or at places of entertainment or worship or at restaurants, that there must be a safe place.”

We look forward to the details expected from the Ministry of Health this week.

According to Mottley, safe zones are to be created within tourism, education, entertainment and places of worship.

The devil will be in the details. It is imperative that clear measures are provided to gain the buy-in of the public as we seek to rebuild this country and our lives.

We hope, though, that the idea of safe zones is fairly and carefully considered and not summarily dismissed and snubbed. If there are shortcomings then let practical suggestions be made and the authorities listen.

What we do not need is another bitter, unnecessary battle among each other. COVID-19 and certainly this Delta variant does not discriminate.

Safe zones, as the Prime Minister outlined, is to get the country up and running: people back at work and children back in schools.

We believe that every citizen is hoping to return to work, go back to church, dine out, go on a picnic.

But it is up to us all to make our whole nation a safe zone against a malignant microbe.