GP backs new COVID-19 quarantine policy

Prominent general practitioner Dr Colin Alert has come out in support of the Government’s new quarantine policy governing Barbadians returning from overseas destinations as the world continues to battle with the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Sunday, the Barbados Government announced: “Passengers arriving on flights from countries considered ‘low risk’ for COVID-19, such as those in the Caribbean, will be subjected to testing on arrival, and will have to stay at home for a 14-day period, during which public health officials will monitor them daily to check for symptoms.

“Home quarantine will also be allowed on a case-by-case basis for passengers who have underlying medical conditions or family situations that cannot be accommodated at state-owned facilities.

“Passengers arriving from countries where there have been high incidences of COVID-19 must go into quarantine at a state-managed facility or a designated hotel at their own expense.”

The new policy was first implemented with a group of 15 UWI students who arrived in Barbados over the weekend on a Caribbean Airlines flight.

Dr Alert told Barbados TODAY that while public health was not his speciality, the policy is “good” and noted that Singapore had also adopted quarantining.

He said: “In Singapore, if you test positive, even if you do not become sick, they make sure you stay at home and health officials monitor you.”

People who test negative for the virus are urged to remain at home in self-quarantine over a two-week period, while if they test positive, they are immediately taken to an isolation centre, usually the Harrison Point temporary hospital in the north of the island.

He noted this was especially important now since the island was considering reopening its borders and with that, more visitors will be coming in from countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, where the number of cases has been extremely high.

He said, “Right now this is the best policy we could have given the state of testing technology, and I believe as long as we follow the necessary protocols consistently and keep up our testing regime everything should work out well for us.”