One of the nurses from Ghana is being treated for malaria.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George made the announcement earlier this evening at a media briefing called by officials from the Ministry of Health and Wellness at the Culloden Road, St Michael, headquarters.
George said they were following the international protocols for the treatment of the illness.
He said Barbados gets about two or three cases each year, mainly from visitors from South America.
“And we have managed those cases in the past and we will manage this case and any other cases that are likely to come forward,” he added.
Meanwhile, Head of the Infection Prevention and Control/Infectious Diseases Programme at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Dr Corey Forde, said the nurse with malaria does not have COVID-19, but is in secondary isolation.
“He is actually quite well. We started him on one of the best drugs out there to treat malaria and he has responded quite well. We added another agent to that only yesterday and he continues to improve. We really have had no significant challenges in terms of his management.”
Forde said Barbados has treated visitors from Guyana and Kenya who had the illness.
Malaria is spread by the bite of an infected anopheles mosquito.
Ninety-five nurses arrived in Barbados from Ghana on July 30, 2020. Twelve of them previously tested positive for COVID-19. (SAT)
