LIVE UPDATES: COVID Management March 13, 2021

Key points and live updates from the March 13, 2021 COVID management press conference featuring Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Chair of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on COVID-19.

Senator Jerome Walcott

• New diplomatic offices will be opened in Kenya, Ghana and United Arab Emirates.
• These missions will be set up to identify new sectors and strengthen and diversity multilateral action to promote Barbados.

New heads of missions:

• Gline Clarke – Canada
• Alex McDonald – Kenya
• Hallam Henry – People’s Republic of China
• Gabriel Abed – United Arab Emirates
• Francois Jackman – UN office in New York
• Commercial and cultural officer in Ghana – Phil Phillips
• A Diaspora officer will be part of the staff complement in the UK in London – Everil Lewis
• We will be working with public and private sector to deepen trade relations.
• The Ministry will have enhanced engagement with the diaspora.
• Ambassador Liz Thompson will be based in Bridgetown, with special responsibility for climate change, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) issues and the law of the sea.
• For past week, the positivity rate is below 5.
• This is a good trend.
• We are still not out of the woods.
• Continue to follow the protocols.
• Results from the lab are coming within 24 hours.
• There are some small clusters – family and community.
• The Ministry of Health is on top of these via contact tracing.
• All of the nursing homes cases were settled.
• Geriatric Hospital – settled
• QEH still has cases – staff and patients

National Vaccination Programme

• As at 2 p.m. March 13, 2021, 51 200 people were inoculated.
• The focusing is primarily on those over 70 years.

• There were discussions about people who are vaccinated leaving Barbados to travel to other countries.
• We should be focusing on vaccinating as many people before we look at vaccine passports.
• Random testing has started.
• We recognise that by doing testing in hot spots alone – based on contact tracing – is putting us at a disadvantage.

Harrison Point patients in isolation:

• Primary: 15
• Secondary: 17
• Tertiary: 77

• China expects the Sinopharm vaccine to get approval from the World Health Organisation shortly.
• We’ve had discussions with the Chinese mission here and China relating to the vaccine.

Editor’s Note: Corrects spelling of name Everil Lewis.