Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley speaking last night.
AS the Government continues to put measures in place to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, Barbadians have been told that the Administration intends, as early as this week, to designate hotels for specific purposes, including for isolation.
That’s the word from Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley. She made the disclosure yesterday evening as Government officials updated the public on the latest regarding the pandemic in the country, since the super-spreader event on Boxing Day.
“One of the areas that I have asked the Ministry of Tourism to work on, which they have not yet completed for this evening’s address [Monday] is the notion that we want to be able to designate hotels for specific purposes. So if a hotel is taking regular visitors who have already come through quarantine; that is what you are doing. Another one can have focus on dedicated quarantine measures; another one would have focus on dedicated isolation measures in the event of persons being asymptomatic, in other words without symptoms and not feeling poorly. And those are available to all persons and not just guests should the need arise,” she indicated.
Mottley said while the capacity at Harrison’s Point is adequate, and not yet full as has been rumoured, they are ensuring that there are alternative sites for persons needing to isolate. She made the point while indicating that the Government is being proactive in this regard. As such, she said Blackman and Gollop School is again being prepared, should it need to be pressed into action to provide accommodation for asymptomatic patients.
“Similarly, we also believe that persons who want to be able to stay in isolated facilities and who are prepared to pay on their own, should be able to do so, without us affecting them, and that is available to either Bajans or visitors should the need arise. But those designated facilities have to be settled tomorrow,” she said.
Mottley added, “This is out of an act of precaution because we need to make sure that in the event we have the need, we can accommodate all persons.”
Meanwhile, given the current circumstance in relation to the COVID-19 cases, PM Mottley reiterated the call for persons to work from home wherever possible, especially during the period of the current COVID-19 directive.
“...This is not new to us, many of you were already working from home earlier in the year and therefore we can go back into those modalities at least until the 14th of January, and we will review then as to whether we need to extend beyond. Those who clearly cannot work from home, because you are working in the areas of activity that require face-to-face, whether it is construction sites, supermarkets, etc., we have all put protocols in place and we are satisfied those protocols have been working. Indeed, they have not been at the centre of any of the breaches, or any of the contact tracing,” she added.
Referring then to a document produced by the Government titled ‘Guidance for Addressing the Risks for Severe COVID-19 in Relation to Employment in Barbados’, she said Barbados is currently at stage 3C – where there are more than 35 cases per week. In such an instance, she indicated that it is suggested that persons over the age of 60, smokers and persons whose body mass index is more than 40, and have frequent interactions in their workplace, should work remotely. She added that where that is not possible, they should mask up, wear face shields and where pos-sible Perspex guards should be erected.
She went on to urge persons who are considered “highly vulnerable”, such as those over the age of 70, to take the requisite precautions and stay home.
“...If you are in that highly vulnerable group over 70, for now just stay home, take it easy,” she stated. (JRT)