Monday December 21 could easily be described as “freedom day” for Barbadians as the island officially dismantled the COVID-19 Emergency Management Order and its attendant Directives, which had disrupted many of their freedoms over the last three years.
For those who believed that suspending some constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, even in the cause of something as worthy as securing the health of the population, was not a good thing, must be pleased that the emergency measures have ended.
Some sections of our population may be unaware of the full implications of the recently ended Emergency Measures. A closer look at some of the measures included, for example, Directive 2.
It reads: “Any member of the Police Service or the Unit may enter any business, establishment or organization at any time during its hours of operation in order to ensure that the business, establishment or organization is in compliance with this Directive and for that purpose, may ask questions of the owner, operator, employees or patrons of the business, establishment or organization. An owner, operator or employee referred to in subparagraph (1) who denies entry to a member of the Police Service or the Unit contravenes this Directive.”
Breaches of the COVID-19 directives could have landed a person found guilty in the courts to a term of one year in prison, a fine of $50,000 or both punishments.
For those in the medical profession and health care policymakers, attention has now shifted from “big brother” watching and dictating how we should respond to the dangers that come with COVID and the other respiratory illnesses in what has been described as a trifecta of illnesses – COVID-19, influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus).
Barbadians are now fully responsible for their own health and safety, as they are with most other possible illnesses and diseases.
According to CNN, the combined flu, COVID, and RSV situation is so overwhelming in some parts of the United States, that hospitals are again forced to set up tents in their parking lots and other spaces to provide temporary beds for patients who are being admitted.
“Last week, hospitals across the nation were the fullest they have been throughout the pandemic, reaching 80 per cent capacity, which is an eight percentage-point jump in two weeks. That’s also the highest level since the Omicron surge in January. This week, hospital capacity has improved slightly,” the news network reported on December 14.
In fact, our Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Kenneth George informed Barbadians on Wednesday that the island has registered at least five confirmed RSV cases.
As the medical fraternity closely monitors what is happening on the global stage, cases of COVID-19 continue to explode. China, which was the epicentre of the pandemic, is warning that millions of Chinese could die from COVID-19 in 2023 as the Omicron variant rips through its population, a sizable percentage of whom remain unvaccinated.
It appears the Omicron variants have evaded the earlier vaccines and boosters. When these vaccinated persons are added to those who are unvaccinated, there is increasing fear that this scenario creates the perfect conditions for a new, more potent COVID-19 variant to emerge.
Dr George has conceded that there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of Barbadians testing for COVID-19, however, the positivity rate hovers just over 20 per cent. This is cause for concern as the actual spread in the community is likely to be much higher as people seek to treat themselves for symptoms of the illness.
That course of self-medicating is not working for everyone as some 25 people are hospitalised at THE Harrison Point Isolation Facility in St Lucy for the disease.
It is against this backdrop that we urge Barbadians to acknowledge their personal responsibility to keep themselves safe from these three respiratory illnesses and to appreciate that they could spread the illnesses to someone who is medically vulnerable, and therefore put that person’s life at risk.
During the Christmas and New Year’s holiday it will be very difficult to resist the urge to hug, kiss, and cuddle our loved ones. Our advice is to do all those things because they are good for our mental health, but at the same time, do so with care and awareness.
The freedom from mandated mask-wearing, hand sanitizing and social distancing does not represent an absence of the disease, it is only a change in how we seek to manage it.
