#BTEditorial – Is COVID-19 in the rear-view mirror?

February 14, 2022 is the day we emphasised our love for those we hold dear. It will also be remembered as the day Government gave its strongest signal that we are on what appears to be a firm path back to normalcy.

For two years, Barbadians existed under the strictures of the COVID-19 pandemic as Government introduced disease mitigation measures that, unfortunately, have been disastrous for business activity and our daily existence.

For some enterprises, it was an opportunity to pivot, and for some, space was created for the establishment of new businesses. Some of these included online services, delivery companies, and e-training service providers.

The strong signal from Government comes at a time when vaccination statistics indicate that 69.8 per cent of the eligible population has received at least one shot against the disease, while 54.8 of citizens are fully vaccinated.

Also  important is the report from the Ministry of Health and Wellness that a sizeable percentage of those who are fully vaccinated have also been boosted, thus providing greater protection against the variants.

But Barbados is not alone in signalling to the world that it is ready to move to a post-pandemic period.

This E-paper reported recently that Bermuda has taken the bold step of announcing an end to the mass vaccination programme.

Health Minister of the British Overseas Dependency, Kim Wilson said the mass vaccination programme run by the government will end on March 31, after which the administration there will supply COVID-19 vaccines through doctors’ offices and participating pharmacies.

So far, 72 per cent of  Bermuda’s population have received two doses of the vaccine, while 69 per cent have received a booster shot.

Bermuda’s vaccination statistics are much better than ours in Barbados, but we suspect the Mia Mottley administration is likely to make a similar move as children return to classrooms and the current emergency health orders run their course.

The indication from new Minister of Health and Wellness Mr Ian Gooding-Edghill is that Government is minded to begin the process of moving pass COVID-19.

At his second Press conference since being assigned one of the hottest seats in Cabinet,  Gooding-Edghill told us: “In order to move the country back to opening while observing protocols, the curfew will be removed. Therefore, with effect from this Monday, February 14, which happens to be Valentine’s Day, the curfew will be lifted.

“I am sure that restaurants and other authorised dining facilities will want to fully cater to the pent-up demand of Barbadians and visitors on this extra-special day. Patrons will no longer have to watch the clock.”

It was a good tactical move for the administration and an even better move for the economy as Barbadians responded overwhelmingly with most restaurants indicating they were flooded with reservations for lunch and dinner.

The six-foot physical distancing rule has been relaxed, though spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant is still rampant in the population.

Even though the positivity rate has fallen from a high of 26 per cent to 23 per cent, this still represents a relatively high rate of infection. Granted, most infected persons have no symptoms and those who do develop symptoms are displaying only mild presentations of the disease.

“You can’t only use a positivity rate as your only metric. The positivity rate looks to be trending downwards. We use the term endemic in public health, and this is the term we speak to when disease is within your population, it is being transmitted at a low level, but it is still there.

“We are in this for the long haul and if we are going to say that COVID is now endemic, we can’t run and hide, and therefore the positivity rate is not the only metric that is used, even though we would obviously like to see that come down to below ten per cent,” was the response of Chief Medical Officer The Most Honourable Dr Kenneth George to concerns about the rate of infection.

And though the administration should take credit and should be praised for its handling of the pandemic, the next major challenge it will confront is the safe return of our children to face-to-face classes.

The teachers’ unions are still not convinced that next Monday presents enough time for the state to get its house in order and may be justified in their calls for a two-week extension.

The problem is our children cannot afford to waste another day. They have suffered too long and the sooner they can benefit from a return to structured, in-person classes, the better it will be for their educational, social and mental wellbeing.