COVID-19 positive individuals who are home isolating will soon have an opportunity to visit their ailing loved ones who are at the Harrison Point Isolation Facility in St Lucy.
Head of Isolation Facilities Dr Corey Forde made the announcement on Thursday during a press conference, where he was aiming for a Monday, February 21 start date for those visits.
Stressing that the visits will be done in a very structured way, Forde explained that only four individuals would be scheduled per day, during the evening, while one space will be made available for an emergency visit.
Forde said it was the acknowledgement that it was a very difficult time for some individuals to be away from their loved ones for an extended period, that prompted him and his team to put forward the recommendation for visitation at the Harrison Point Isolation Facility.
He explained that the visits will start with individuals who are more ill, and then expand to include others.
“What we are going to do is if you are a [COVID-19] positive individual at this time and you have a family member in there who is gravely ill, we are going to allow you to visit but in a very structured fashion,” said Forde.
“We will bring you to the facility and we will take you back because you are still in isolation. So we don’t want you to run about catching a bus for example, or driving your car to Harrison Point. So we will bring you in, in a structured way, and this will be communicated through our client relations department. They will communicate with you and structure a time in the afternoon and we will take at least four visits from four
different individuals to the facility,” he explained.
He said upon arrival, the family will be outfitted with the necessary personal protective gear and will be briefed by medical officials on what they could and could not do. They will also have the opportunity to again interact with medical officials after spending some time with their relatives.
“We know it has been difficult over the last two years with the norm of going to visit people has not been there, but we will try to change that in this particular aspect. How successful we are will also depend on you and how you cooperate with us as we go through a difficult process,” said Forde, who said there may be some hiccups, but he was focused on making it as smooth as possible.
There are currently more than 120 patients in the Harrison Point Isolation Facility with eight individuals who are negative but are dependents. There are 31 individuals currently on oxygen therapy.
Forde stressed that the visit programme was his department’s way of trying to bring back an element of “humanity” in a difficult situation happening globally.
“Many countries would not have done this but we are going to attempt to do it in a structured fashion, and we hope that Barbadians will work with us as we work through the process,” said Forde.
He noted that allowances have been made in the past for individuals who do not have the COVID-19 virus to still keep in touch with loved ones at the St Lucy-based isolation facility by way of telephone or Zoom calling. This is to continue.
He said assessments will be done on the new visitation measure over time to know what changes could be made in the future and whether individuals who are not COVID-19 positive could be allowed to visit the facility to see their loved ones.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
