This April 5th COVID-19 update featured the Minister of Health and Wellness, Lt. Col. the Honourable Jeffrey Bostic, MP; Chief Medical Officer (ag), Dr. Anton Best; Head of Infection Prevention & Control, Dr. Corey Forde and; COVID-19 Czar, Mr. Richard Carter.
Government of Barbados
Transcript of remarks by Lt. Col. The Honourable Jeffrey Bostic
Minister of Health and Wellness
At a Press Conference and COVID-19 Update
On March 5, 2020
At Ilaro Court
[00:00:04] Fellow Barbadians. Residents. I greet you on this day that is observed as Palm Sunday by those of us of the Christian faith and marks the beginning of the holiest week in the Christian calendar. It is a time for many of us in the faith community that is marked by a period of deep reflection on the ultimate sacrifice and on the emergence of hope and renewal from darkness and despair.
[00:00:33] It is against the solemnity of this period and with much sadness that I inform the nation that we recorded our first death from COVID-19, last night. The deceased is an 81-year old Barbadian man who travelled to the United Kingdom and returned to Barbados on March 22nd. He, along with his wife, 83, was tested for COVID-19 yesterday, Saturday, after reporting symptoms. They both tested positive for the viral illness. The condition of the deceased man who had underlying medical conditions deteriorated rapidly after being admitted into care.
[00:01:22] I was informed of his death late last night from COVID-19 related pneumonia and complications of diabetes. I take this opportunity to extend deepest condolences from the government and people of Barbados to the family and friends of the deceased and ask you to take solace in knowing that the God we serve continues to keep you and all of us in his care.
[00:01:59] I am very grateful for the medical professionals who at great personal risk to themselves, continue to care for and treat those infected if COVID-19 and who provided this gentleman with the best available medical care. These brave Barbadians, the other public health staff directly involved in the COVID-19 response and the entire cohort of staff working in the public and private sector to maintain the high-quality health care that Barbados has become known for deserve our support, our prayers, and our deepest respect.
[00:02:43] In this regard. I am pleased to announce to Barbados that a 100-person team of intensive care specialists from the Republic of Cuba will arrive in Barbados today in order to provide respite and support for our medical teams who have been on the front line of treating those with COVID-19, working gruelling hours in the most demanding of circumstances. We thank the government and people of the Republic of Cuba for their support to Barbados in this time of great demand for their medical services worldwide.
[00:03:24] I am further pleased to announce that a significant number of medical practitioners and other medical professionals have stepped forward to offer their services to the government and people of Barbados and will form a volunteer corps in support of the country’s effort to continue to provide the best medical care not only for those infected by COIVD-19, but for the range of medical services that will continue to be delivered for our people. On behalf of the government and people of Barbados, I thank them sincerely for coming forward in this time of national public health emergency.
[00:04:09] I am also happy to announce that they have been advised that the new medical facility, Harrison’s Point, which has been converted from an abandoned ruin to a first-class hospital with 220 beds for the treatment of COIVD-19 patients, will be handed over by the contractors to the Ministry of Health and Wellness tomorrow. We will immediately begin the process of outfitting the facility with the required medical equipment so that it can be pressed into service in the shortest possible time. This will now provide us with an additional thirty-eight beds with ventilation capacity and one hundred and eighty-two isolation beds for critical care and treatment of COVID-19 patients.
[00:04:58] Finally, I am very pleased to announce to the nation that in the midst of all of the distress, dislocation and the sad news of persons being infected and our first death from COVID-19, we will see the emergence from isolation today, of six persons who have recovered from COVID-19. This is a tribute to the quality of care and treatment provided by our medical teams and we celebrate this important milestone with these patients and their families with whom they can now be reunited.
[00:05:43] Fellow Barbadians, I spoke earlier of the arrival of the Cuban specialists and also of the handing over of the St. Lucy facility. We shall commence today the process of outfitting that facility. Among the lists of supplies ordered and many already received are indeed ventilators. From the outset of the prevalence of this virus in Wuhan, China, the Prime Minister of this country and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Mia Mottley, issued an open cheque to the Ministry of Health and Wellness for the procurement of ventilators.
[00:06:26] We have an adequate amount of ventilators on island at this point and ventilators have been arriving almost daily over the past two weeks or so. To date, we have had need to use only three ventilators. We have at present on island at least 37 ventilators owned by and in the control of the Government and 11 others owned by private sector interests, but which have magnanimously been placed at the full disposal of the Government.
[00:07:03] So it is absurd for anyone to say, suggest, imply or insinuate that there is a shortage or could in the foreseeable future be an acute shortage of ventilators on the island. Indeed, we have on order through five different sources, more than one hundred and fifty ventilators ordered, paid for and in the process of or are awaiting shipment.
[00:07:35] But I remind you that ventilators are the most in-demand item in the world today, and Barbados is merely wrestling with the other 203 countries and territories around the globe also seeking to secure as and much of this piece of equipment as possible. Overall, we are saddened by the loss of the first Barbadian on the island, a [son] of this soil. You would be aware that we have already lost brothers and sisters living elsewhere in the diaspora.
[00:08:14] Barbadians and residents, this virus will not go away if we surrender or if we retreat. Now is not the time for our surrender or retreat. We have to unite as a people to fight this virus and I’m calling and urging all Barbadians, including those especially skills that are required in this fight to come forward, come forward to assist your country in an hour of greatest need.