Protocol changes, deaths, vaccination calls mark second year of pandemic

COVID-19 once again dominated the headlines of 2021.

While there was much hope by Government and Barbadians alike that 2021 would have been the year in which the pandemic was defeated, the situation in fact worsened.

This was highlighted by the fact that COVID-19 related deaths increased exponentially, as a result of the fast-spreading Delta variant.

Barbados recorded its first COVID-19 case in March 2020, and by the end of that year, seven people had died from the respiratory virus. However, that figure skyrocketed to 260 by December 31, 2021.

And just a day before the New Year, Barbadians got the dreaded news that the latest COVID-19 variant of concern, Omicron, had been detected on the island.

While not as dangerous as the Delta variant, Omicron is highly contagious and can be spread easily by fully vaccinated or unvaccinated persons.

The latest development came just as Barbadians were returning to a sense of normalcy, with events and parties given the green light to resume for the first time in a year.

In announcing that Omicron had been detected, Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George advised persons not to panic and urged them to continue following the protocols.

The news meant Barbadians were entering 2022 unsure about whether additional restrictions would be enforced in the New Year in an effort to control the spread of Omicron.

At the start of 2021, after a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and increased deaths, a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew was already in place. However, following the emergence of several new COVID-19 clusters, including one at the country’s lone prison HMP Dodds, Prime Minister Mia Mottley lengthened the curfew – 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. – from February 3, as part of a two week “national reset”.

During that period, only businesses deemed to be essential services such as supermarkets, gas stations, pharmacies, doctors and bakeries were allowed to open.

Additionally, the PM also tightened restrictions at the Grantley Adams International Airport, with visitors to the island requiring a PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before arrival. They also had to take a test on arrival and their quarantine period was also increased from two to five days.

After receiving its first tranche of AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility, Government rolled out its National Vaccination Programme on February 12, with frontline workers among the first to receive their jab.

Within the next month, following a decrease in the number of positive cases and with over 50,000 Barbadians taking the vaccine, Government eased the restrictions, moving the curfew back to 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

It seemed as though Barbados was on the way to success, with Minister of Health and Wellness Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic announcing that the country had reached its goal of a positivity rate of less than 25 per 100,000.

Speaking at the Barbados Labour Party’s three-year anniversary virtual conference on May 23, Bostic revealed that the positivity rate during that seven-day period had dipped to 1.04 per cent.

At that time, he said more than 70,000 Barbadians had been vaccinated – more than 51, 000 fully.

However, that ‘victory’ was short-lived.

Due to the closure of schools because of the pandemic and the switch to online learning presenting several challenges to both students and teachers, a decision was made to delay the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (BSSEE) from May until July 28.

Government also made the call to scrap the Crop Over festival for a second straight year.

On June 19, the Health Minister revealed that the Delta variant had been identified in Barbados. Within a number of weeks, COVID-19 cases and deaths rose to an alarming level.

Nothing seemed to stop the deadly wave which claimed the lives of old, middle-aged and young people.

A planned resumption of face-to-face classes in September never materialized due to an increase in positive cases among students.

And while three months earlier Bostic had celebrated Barbados’ positivity rate of less than 25 per 100,000, he could only lament the fact that the statistic had now jumped to 287 cases per 100,000.

That figure eventually climbed to over 1,500 cases per 100,000.

During a subsequent press conference, Dr Natasha Sobers-Grannum, a lecturer in public health and epidemiology at the University of the West Indies, warned that the country could see between 700 and 800 positive cases daily.

With cases continuing to increase at an alarming rate, the isolation and quarantine facilities that Government had expanded because of the high COVID-19 numbers, became overwhelmed.

This led to the establishment of home quarantine and home isolation options, with persons initially required to meet certain standards to qualify.

However, most persons were eventually allowed to stay at home because the island’s medical facilities were under pressure.

In mid-November, as the number of new COVID-19 cases began to fall, restrictions were again eased, with the curfew being shortened once again, running from 12 midnight to 5 a.m. daily. The curfew was removed for Christmas Eve and adjusted to 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

In its continued efforts to fight the spread of the virus, Government began administering third shots of the COVID-19 vaccines, otherwise known as booster shots.

To date, around 57 per cent of the island’s population of 280,000 have been vaccinated, but with Omicron now among us, health authorities have once again reiterated their calls for Barbadians to get vaccinated. (randybennett@barbadostoday.bb)