Straughn encourages residents to gather responsibly this yuletide season

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn is encouraging residents to continue to observe COVID-19 protocols, even as families gather to celebrate this yuletide season.

Speaking during a news conference on Saturday, Straughn said residents should bear in mind that it’s quite costly to keep people safe and the health system functioning during the pandemic.

“While the Ministry of Health and their team have done a wonderful job at trying to keep Barbadians safe, it has come at a cost,” Straughn said.

“The reality is that as variants become more and more transmissive, it means then that we have to allocate more resources to be able to finance the cost of that delivery of care as it relates to COVID-19.

“I want to continue to urge Barbadians, certainly over this yuletide season that as the numbers have reduced significantly from what we would have seen six or eight weeks ago, I really want to encourage Barbadians as we move through this yuletide season, and we want to gather and certainly we want to encourage families to gather and gather responsibly, to do so as safely as possible so as to put us in the best possible position to be able to manage the cost associated with the pandemic,” he added.

Straughn said if residents consistently adhere to the protocols over  the course of the next eight to 12 weeks, “we can give, certainly Dr [Corey] Forde and his team at Harrison Point and the wider health-care professionals a welcome respite with respect to being able to manage this pandemic.”

“I believe it is within us as Barbadians to be able to bring this pandemic under control in Barbados,”  Straughn said.

Noting that the pandemic is far from over, Straughn also called on residents to get vaccinated.

“We have seen and heard of new variants emerging globally and therefore this pandemic will be with us for some time, and we have to be able to live with COVID and hopefully we’re able to get back to some level of normality going forward,” he said.