BY Fabian Belgrave – JAN 26, 2021
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has announced that the Ministry of Health and Wellness will commence health checks of Barbadians within their homes during the coming weeks.
She said Barbados would begin a new lockdown from February 3 to 17, and Ministry officials would be knocking on doors to survey occupants about their health, and checking for symptoms of COVID-19.
“We want to give our healthcare system and our healthcare professionals a chance to not only fight this, but to win this battle,” she stated.
Ms. Mottley, who was speaking during an address to the nation tonight, said: “This lockdown that we are calling, this pause, this national reset is going to be necessary in order for us to give ourselves also a chance, to go into the community, house by house by house.”
The Prime Minister disclosed that The University of the West Indies and the Ministry of Health and Wellness would work together to effectively roll out this programme, and it would be led by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Dr. Jerome Walcott, who is also Chairman of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on COVID-19.
She revealed that one aspect of the plan is to go into the communities by organising the island into polling districts.
“We have 300 polling districts; we need at least 300 persons going into the community on a parallel track, so that over the course of 10 to 12 days, we are able to get into as many houses as possible; ask persons through a questionnaire, that is already being used by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, with respect to symptoms to get a sense of those who have symptoms, and then to use the rapid antigen tests to ensure that we can pick out of the community and take for treatment immediately, all persons who are positive.”
Prime Minister Mottley said the house to house check is to reach people who don’t know that they have COVID-19, so that they could get the necessary treatment.
“I say we are going to wage war on COVID. I mean it,” she stressed, while calling on all Barbadians to stay at home and in their communities, so agents of the ministry could get to them and rule them out through the rapid antigen tests, which is 99 per cent accurate for persons who are symptomatic.
BY Fabian Belgrave – JAN 26, 2021 — BGIS
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Over 70s To Stay Home For Next Three Weeks.
All persons over the age of 70 should remain at home for the next three weeks, unless it is absolutely necessary for them to leave to go in search of medical care, or purchase food supplies or medicine because of dire circumstances.
This request came tonight from Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley during an address to the nation, where she outlined further measures Government would be putting in place to get a better handle of the surge in COVID-19 cases.
Ms. Mottley welcomed and endorsed the appeal issued earlier by the President of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP) for seniors to stay at home, wherever practical and possible.
Speaking directly to the elderly, whom she described as the country’s most vulnerable group, the Prime Minister stated: “You need to protect yourself. And importantly, I am saying to you, we need to protect you, and we shall….
“For now, let it be noted that all persons over 70 should remain at home, unless urgent circumstances warrant…. Urgent in this instance, does not include funerals. I want to stress that, but in any event, funerals and other events will come back down to where they were with respect to earlier protocols.”
Ms. Mottley urged elderly persons to reach out to family members and close friends to assist them with any errands. She said that after further consultation with different elements of the Social Partnership, her ministers and different government agencies, over the next few days, would clarify specific details they want the nation to follow.
In the past seven days, she said, Barbados had lost three elderly people to the virus. “The circumstances have pained me greatly. They did not break any law; they did not flagrantly abuse any protocol or guidelines; they did not even leave their homes.
“In fact, I have said that they didn’t catch COVID, COVID caught them. None of the three of them went to COVID, COVID came to them. This has given me sleepless nights, and my fear is that COVID will not stop, until we as a nation stop COVID. COVID will not stop unless we declare war on COVID, and in fact, I would like to add to it dengue. Our fight back therefore must intensify, as of this evening,” she stressed.
The Prime Minister told her audience that over the past two days she had consulted with various persons, including public health practitioners, Cabinet Sub-Committee, Social Partnership, the opposition parties and a diverse group.
She urged Barbadians to recommit to doing all those things they did in the early days of the virus, to protect themselves and their elderly family.
BY Sharon Austingill Moore —— BGIS
