#BTEditorial – Our elderly must be well-protected

As Barbados and the world move on from the COVID-19 pandemic, people are asking: what next?

The Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) reminds us that the pandemic still hovers, that people are still dying from the disease, and that Barbadians should exercise as much care as is necessary to protect themselves and their loved one from the viral illness.

Given the systematic removal of most nationally enforced disease mitigation measures, there is a general acceptance that while COVID-19 remains a highly infectious and detrimental disease to many, the majority will survive if they become infected.

However, while the population is enjoying the exhilaration of  being “outside” again, there is a segment of our population that remains in fear and are somewhat helpless, no matter how well they try to protect themselves.

Our elderly population and those with pre-existing health challenges are dying at a rate that should make us pause and reflect on whether we have chosen to make our elderly collateral damage in our ambition to return our economy and social life to normal.

On Thursday evening the Government Information Service revealed that between August 12 and 16, four more people died of  COVID-19 in Barbados. Last Friday, an 88-year-old woman passed away, followed by two men, aged 68 and 75, and a 75-year-old woman, all on Tuesday.

Those fatalities brought the official death toll on the island to 529.

All this came as our Ministry of Health and Wellness announced the country would no longer require unvaccinated people coming to Barbados to be tested for the viral illness at the Grantley Adams International Airport.

According to a Government statement: “The Ministry of Health and Wellness has advised that, effective August 20, there will be no testing for unvaccinated travellers on arrival at the Grantley Adams International Airport.”

Younger members of our society have the benefit of youth on their side and are throwing caution to the wind. Many of them are disregarding mask use, even in crowded indoor spaces.

Frankly, our criticism of such practices will fall on deaf ears simply because our leaders, for some time, have been sending mixed signals regarding mask wearing, with their own inconsistent use of the disease preventative measure.

More thought must be given to protecting our senior members of society who remain extremely vulnerable to the disease.

Vaccination status appears to be having little impact on the infection rate by this Omicron subvariant that has been blamed for the current outbreak following weeks of hectic activity related to the Crop Over Festival.

Not only should those seniors who are institutionalized be protected from the disease but all seniors. This, we understand, will require a greater level of responsibility by those who reside with them.

Though we have no official statistics to support this assertion, anecdotal information suggests that younger members of households are bringing home the disease to their elderly relatives. This, in some instances could be a death sentence.

We accept that in 2022, with inflation, high energy prices, and the other stresses of life can be overwhelming. Further words of caution about a near three-year-old pandemic are not what people want to hear at this time.

Life has to go on. People have caught COVID-19 sometimes three or four times. People’s views on the disease are evolving and they are learning to live with the viral illness.

In the United States and Europe, though the disease is still widespread, it is not as fatal as in 2020, and it is now viewed as endemic and to be managed like any other disease.

We must still be mindful of the fact that it is our seniors who have borne the brunt of this disease. The mortality rate for infected elderly is still too high.

We assert that much more can be done to protect our elderly population and maintain their rights, even as we contend with reviving our economy.

Our parents and grandparents should not have to fear for their lives from a relative or caregiver, who, after a weekend of fun and enjoyment, then brings the death angel to their elders’ doors.