LIVE UPDATES: COVID Management February 4, 2021

Key points and live updates from the February 4, 2021 COVID management press conference featuring Attorney-General Dale Marshall; Dr Kenneth Connell, Deputy Dean of Internationalisation & Recruitment, Faculty of Medical Sciences; and Dr Dion Greenidge, Head of the Department of Management Studies, Cave Hill Campus.

Dr Kenneth Connell

• It is not business as usual.
• We are also going through dengue season. Some of the symptoms overlap and this may be confusing.
• Operation Seek and Save will be a standardised checklist to find out those individuals who may be at risk.
• Based on the answers, they will be invited to undergo rapid antigen tests.
• Depending on the results, there will be more treatment or more advice.
• As a citizen, you have the right to refuse to answer the questionnaire.
• You have the right to only answer the questions you feel comfortable answering.
• Information is confidential.
• Those who have a fear of the people in Operation Seek and Save coming to their home should take the same precautions as they would in moving around.
• Wear the face mask or face shield where appropriate, wash hands or use hand sanitiser, maintain physical distance.
• Consider yourself COVID-positive until proven otherwise and protect yourself.
• If you have a Non-Communicable Disease (NCD)
• Take your blood pressure
• Take your blood sugar
• Visit the doctor if you have not done so recently
• Make sure there is a plan to control the illness
• Try to get some physical activity
• Take your medication
• If your NCD is not under control, this could impact the result if you have COVID-19.
• The Caribbean region is under high risk to COVID-19 because of the high prevalence of NCDs.
• This is not a punishment, but to fight a common enemy and that is the virus.

Attorney General Dale Marshall

• There is less panic and uncertainty heading into this lockdown.
• There have been no reports from the royal Barbados Police Force, so people seem to be heaving.
• Some emergency passes were issued, but they have to be justified.
• If you applied and did not receive one, you can make a query.
• Residential domestics, maids, gardeners etc. will not be allowed to work during the lockdown.
• The lockdown should not impact what you do around your home, e.g. home repairs.
• The use of communal swimming pools is strictly prohibited.
• The list of minimarts will be updated.
• Any business that is operating and runs afoul of the law, the privilege will be revoked.
• Bread vans are not allowed to operate in communities, but bread depots can.
• The emergency directive indicates what can operate.
• If you have not been given express permission to open, don’t open your doors.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley

• The Minister of Health and Chief Medical Officer reported three people at Geriatric Hospital are positive – 2 kitchen staff and one nurse.
• Contact tracing has commenced and they are putting the staff rotation in place to protect everyone.
• They are trying to accommodate those who may now need to be quarantined.
• Governor General Dame Sandra Mason and Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham are in self-quarantine.
• A driver/orderly tested positive and extensive contact tracing is being done.
• Her first COVID test was negative.
• Everyone has moved out of Government House to allow for sanitising.
• Public health officials suggested quarantining.
• The Barbados Defence Force will distribute the care packages so it is not a political issue.
• Mottle said she made the country a promise that once information was not sensitive to national security, it would be share with the public.

Dr Dion Greenidge (FILE)

Dr Dion Greenidge

• Operation Seek and Save started today.
• They visited 3 236 households across 11 parishes – using 360 students supervised by the BDF.
• The UWI volunteers were trained in ethics, how to treat data and protecting themselves while in the field. There will be physical distancing and they will not be entering any homes.
• Data is sent in real time – it comes through a secure server.
• Access to the server is limited to a few people.
• Data protection is observed on campus and treated very seriously.
• The data collectors are not using personal devices; 360 were issued for this exercise and they can’t make phone calls.
• No names are being collected, only information on the households and the risk factors on dengue and COVID.
• Locations are geo-tagged for follow up where necessary.