Safe zones proposal ‘flawed’ – dental association head

Another representative of local medical practitioners is raising serious questions about the Government’s management of the COVID-19 situation, contending that the details of a draft proposal for safe zones “defies logic and science”.

President of the Barbados Dental Association, Dr Vidya Armogan in a letter sent to Barbados TODAY, called for shorter testing periods, the approval of rapid antigen testing and authorisation for private medical officers including dentists, to carry out the tests.

A spokesman from the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) has also revealed that a separate “detailed document” was submitted to the Ministry of Health and Wellness outlining a list of concerns about the safe zones.

However, the dentists have blasted the current administration for seemingly ignoring their recommendations over the course of the pandemic, contending that many of the conditions set out in the draft document entitled Safe Zone Implementation Framework for Public and Private Healthcare Institutions in Barbados simply do not make sense.   

Of particular concern is a stipulation that ‘safe zone’ workers both vaccinated and unvaccinated test for COVID-19 every 30 days, which the association believes should be done every seven to 14 days. The association fears that such a broad window between tests would cause many new infections to go undetected given the three to 23-day incubation period and the 10-14 day contagion period for unvaccinated individuals.

“As such, if I were tested today, I could contract COVID tomorrow, start spreading it in three days for 14 days and then recover. On my next test, I’d likely show negative,” Dr Armogan contended.

“Considering that this policy is directed at the healthcare offices, dealing with an immune-compromised population, we could potentially be spreading the virus and not even being able to contact and trace the infected individuals.

“Thirty days, however, makes no sense,” he added.

The association also urged the Government to consider that the demand for testing services would grow exponentially under the potential safe zones and could become problematic from a human resources standpoint.

“If employees are doing this on company time, this will result in all manner of difficulties: – transportation to and from the facility; time away from work; disruption of already disrupted workplaces; potential exposure at facilities; discomfort and sequelae of testing procedures (headaches, pain or discomfort) etc,” said Dr Armogan.

He warned that a recent release issued by the Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS) requesting that people come forward for training in swabbing, contravenes legislation and could expose the Government to lawsuits.

“Allow testing at the medical/dental/paramedical offices,” the association president urged.

“This will cut down on the demand at the government testing facilities and prevent all of the problems mentioned above. A representative from the COVID unit can be assigned to various offices (as was done with the hotels) to follow up and maintain the records for the Government. Tests can be requisitioned or delivered based on the number of employees,” he suggested.

He added that the Government ought to widen the guidelines for rapid Antigen testing beyond symptomatic COVID patients or persons preparing to travel, as they are also well suited for use in the context of safe zones.

“No one is thrilled about having a nasal swab done repeatedly. It can be uncomfortable and some people report headaches etc after swabbing and thus an inability to work effectively. Additionally, if a doctor/nurse does not carry out the swabbing, we could be in contravention of the Medical Act.

“To move into safe zones and requiring nurses at each location is ridiculous, and will not only be expensive, but will pull nurses from frontline responsibilities. Additionally, doing nasal swabs requires a change of gloves between swabs whereas a saliva test allows the patient to collect their own sample and administer their own test, with supervision.”

In the early stages of the pandemic, dentists were ranked in the 95-99 percentile for danger of exposure to COVID-19 and, according to Dr Armogan, this forced members to quickly become experts on the virus. Miraculously, the professionals have been credited with delivering treatment throughout the pandemic without a single known case of on-the-job transmission.

However, the association was highly critical of Government’s apparent disregard for its requests to import COVID-related supplies duty-free and vat free to “aid in the protection of the public”. Dr Armogan argued that unlike Barbados, other CARICOM territories have kept the cost of thermometers, masks, gloves, oximeters and other supplies down with similar tax adjustments.

“As healthcare professionals with critical thinking abilities, it is disappointing that the Government of Barbados has not seen fit to include the Barbados Dental Association in matters related to COVID protocols,” the statement concluded.

Recently, Prime Minister Mottley revealed that the policy, which was to be rolled out at the start of November, would be delayed by one week.

Meanwhile, the BAMP source revealed that the ministry has been asked to respond to doctors’ concerns within seven days of receipt. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb