New guidelines for implementation of safe zones

Safe zone legislation, mandatory COVID-19 Prevention and Control Policies at all public and private healthcare institutions, increase in staff members who conduct swabbing and prominent signage at the entrance of businesses indicating the existence of a safe zone, are among the new Government guidelines for implementation of the zones on November 1.

The nine-page document, a copy of which has been obtained by Barbados TODAY and dated October 21, 2021, said legislation was required to support the successful implementation of the Safe Zones, which have been identified as a place where people are vaccinated and regularly tested.

Titled Safe Zone Implementation Framework for Public and Private Healthcare Institutions in Barbados COVID-19, it said the Prevention and Control Policy is designed to reduce the risk of transmission in facilities.

The framework stipulates that this policy should be made available to all staff and must include ongoing education and sensitization; access to, and proper use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and infection prevention and control guidelines.

The policy also calls for a testing schedule at all public and private health-care institutions based on risk categorization; monitoring, evaluation and feedback; and encouragement of patients and staff to use all available COVID-19 vaccines.

Persons in these safe zones will be categorized as High Risk of Exposure and Low Risk of Exposure.

The guidelines state that the high-risk employees and employers are those who work with known positive patients or take samples from those who are at high risk of being positive such as in isolation and quarantine facilities and staff who conduct swabbing procedures.

Also those who care for vulnerable clients including patients who are ill, persons in elderly care facilities including nursing homes and the psychiatric hospital.

The low-risk persons fall under the opposite provisions.

With respect testing, the framework said the frequency of testing will be conducted based on the vaccination status of the employees and whether they function in a low or high risk area.

“It is recommended that low risk vaccinated employees be randomly tested once monthly; while high risk vaccinated employees, which includes those working with vulnerable clients e.g. persons in elderly care facilities, known positive patients and staff conducting swabbing, would be tested every two weeks.

“For unvaccinated employees working in low-risk settings, it is recommended that they are tested once per month; while unvaccinated staff working in high- risk settings should be tested once per week,” revealed the document, which was prepared by the Planning and Research Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

Twenty-five per cent of the vaccinated low-risk staff will be randomly tested once per month, according to the new Guidelines, while the vaccinated high-risk personnel must be tested every two weeks.

All employees who have had COVID-19 within a six-month period are exempted from the aforementioned protocols for testing.

Only after six months post the end of their isolation due to COVID-19 do those protocols apply.

Institutions which fail to comply with the guidelines would be deemed in breach and will be subjected to still-to-be-determined penalties.

Employees are required to provide a valid vaccination card or an electronic vaccination certificate or a valid PCR COVID-19 test certificate.

Any employee found to be producing a forged/false vaccination card or testing certificate will be seen as being in breach of the protocol.

Workers must also provide the employer with a valid vaccination card or vaccination certificate or a recent testing certificate within 24 hours of the request being made by management.

The framework stated that the goal of the safe zones is to create a safe space for employers, employees and patients in public and private health-care institutions in a COVID-19 environment.

It explained that the strategic objective is to ensure adherence to infection prevention and control protocols in health-care institutions; to increase the frequency of testing among staff in both public and private health-care institutions; and to encourage the uptake of available vaccines by staff in health-care institutions.

However, this new strategy is not without its challenges.

The document identified them as infringement of the private laws related to the declaration of medical information and material change to the terms and conditions of the employees’ contract of employment. (EJ)