Earlier this week Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced her Government’s intention to impose a two-week “national pause”, to help the country to get a handle on the COVID-19 cases, which have skyrocketed since the end of last year – this is to be commended.
No one can deny that we need to stop, take stock of where we are and take firm and decisive steps to ensure that the number of cases do not continue to rise. Now, while Government says that it has the capacity in the healthcare facilities that is needed to deal with the situation, the nature of this virus, and the fact that we have also discovered that the British variant is present on the island – a variant that is said to spread faster, and could be as much as 30 percent more lethal than earlier versions, is definitely cause for concern.
Sadly, it would seem that 2021 is shaping up to be an even worse year than 2020, if that is even possible. COVID has not only decimated our tourism industry, but has put our healthcare system under tremendous pressure. As of January 26, we had a total of 1 443 cases, of which 353 were active and yesterday we recorded our 11th death from COVID, and the fourth for the month of January. These are alarming figures, and while it is hoped that the two-week shutdown should help to get a handle on the situation, unless the people in this country are willing to play their part, then the shutdown will be all for naught.
The truth is that the country’s economy really cannot afford a shutdown at this time, but we cannot afford not to shut down, and then have an even greater outbreak of the virus and more deaths. So we all have to do our part – wear our masks when in public places, on public transport and even when around family and friends who do not live in the same household as us.
We also have to sanitise our hands and in that vein, we think it is imperative that the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit ensures that those establishments that will remain open during the lockdown period are following the protocols, and that includes ensuring, for example, that the hand sanitising stations at supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations and the like, are actually emitting an adequate amount of sanitiser, as we have had reports that there are some which do not.
But sadly, COVID is not the only virus that we have to contend with at this time. For a few months now we have been hearing about a rise in dengue cases and deaths across the Caribbean region.
From 2019, the Caribbean Public Health Agency has been warning about the likelihood for an outbreak of the mosquito-borne viral illness and it seems now to be upon us. And while here in Barbados, the Ministry of Health has been trying to educate persons about the signs of severe dengue, a lot of that information is lost in the COVID noise. Many people are not taking heed to the messages to keep their surroundings free of stagnant water, perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and because the focus is on COVID, not much is said of the dengue cases until they take a turn for the worse.
As it stands, we have had three dengue-related deaths so far and if we are to ensure that no more occur, then Barbadians also need to be vigilant as it relates to mosquitoes. Certainly we know that persons are perhaps feeling overwhelmed by all this sickness, but we must have faith and remember that prevention is better than cure.