EDITORIAL - Natural progression

THIS island is in Phase 2 of its national reopening.

While this stage is welcome news for business owners across the island, it has to come with the realisation that this activity can possess the potential for a second wave of the coronavirus’ spread.

Notwithstanding the economic lure which is part of the reopening of the country, business owners have to face the reality that this island's working population suffers from twin issues – one is earning enough to satisfy the demands of living comfortably in this country, and two, ensuring that they do not form part of the growing statistics of active COVID-19 infections on the island.

It represents a complex state of affairs.

Businesses have reopened with reduced capacity in some areas, in terms of active staff on site. The need to practise social distancing creates the dynamic which calls for serious attention to detail, because one wrong move with this disease can reverse the gains which we have achieved as a country to date.

This pandemic has a pile-on effect. When a person receives a positive test result, their entire life changes. From being isolated from family, friends, and their entire daily routine, the progression of the disease's impact depends on contact between the infected and those unsuspecting people with whom they may interact.

So when the infected are isolated, the contact tracing to determine the extent of the infection possibility expands. To this point, that process has been successful and we must congratulate the health care professionals who are treating the infected, and the team which does the contact tracing and identifies those who may need to be tested.

This process allows for targeted testing to take place.

The reopening provides the chance for businesses to prioritise the services which have the most impact. Scenes of people who stand for seemingly hours in the hot sun are images which this country cannot afford at the present time.

With social distancing protocols being put in place, there has to be a better way of processing the needs of the public safely and allowing for basic transactions to be done with little problems.

Clearly more public awareness can be done to alert persons of the items which they require when transacting business. For supermarkets, the idea of walking with a list has been embraced and if people hear information often enough, it becomes part of their thinking. So why can this not be the case as more businesses start to reopen?

Barbadians have been cooped up for weeks and the vast majority have adhered to the restrictions and rules which have been put in place.

When the night-time curfew was initially put in place, Barbadians followed the directive because the time was taken to explain the need for the measure. Barbadians watch international news and see first-hand what the damage this disease's spread has caused on families across the world.

Barbados is uniquely threatened. A growing elderly population, which is known for being socially close, and a working population which lives from one paycheque to another means that a prolonged shutdown will be disastrous.

This phased reopening is the next part of this episode and natural progression calls for the public being kept informed of all the relevant information.