The number of Barbadians lost to coronavirus (COVID-19) rose to 36 yesterday, February 28, when three Barbadian women succumbed to the viral illness.
The first was an 85-year-old resident of a nursing home who passed away at 1:15 p.m. Just over an hour later at 2:25 p.m., the second woman, a 64-year-old, died at Enmore. The third woman, an 88-year-old resident of a nursing home, died at 6 p.m. All three suffered co-morbidities and tested COVID-positive on various dates during February, according to a statement from the COVID Communications Unit.
Minister of Health Jeffrey Bostic extended condolences to the families and other loved ones.
“While the Ministry believes that the worst of the current COVID-19 outbreak is subsiding, we still have some distance to go before we are in a position of safety. Now that the country is reopening, members of the public must exercise every caution in all interactions with each other and continue to observe the health and safety protocols. Relaxation of these efforts could have a damaging impact,” he said.
“As the saying goes, ‘COVID loves crowds’. Any setting with crowds and lots of strangers, where there is no physical distancing, presents a risk. We should also remember that it is with those to whom we are closest that we are most likely to let down our guard. Therefore, social settings with friends and family present some element of danger. We must not equate this start of the reopening process as a time of relaxation. We still have to be extremely vigilant if we are not to suffer a reversal of the gains we have made,” Bostic said. (CCU)
