EDITORIAL - We are not yet out of the woods

Whilst we have heard that there has been a flattening of the curve in relation to the number of cases of COVID-19 in this country, Dr. Corey Forde, Head of the Infectious Diseases and Infection Prevention and Control Department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), has indicated what most of us know – and that is we are not yet out of the woods.

Dr. Forde recently reported that after an initial spike, the number of cases has levelled out, but he has stressed that now is not the time to be complacent.

Meanwhile, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and WHO Regional Director for the Americas, while calling on national and local health authorities to work even more closely together to contain the spread of the virus and to support health systems capacity, has noted that several nations, including some in our region, have shown that the caseload can be contained with strong surveillance and detection, coordinated public health and preventive action, contact tracing and surge of the health system capacity.

Dr. Etienne, in speaking to the rapidly evolving situation of COVID-19 in the region of the Americas, has noted that as of Monday, this region has reported 1.74 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 104 000 people have died from the disease. While we remain in this dangerous stage of the pandemic, she says, financial resources are needed to help people cope with the economic impacts of staying at home or being out of work; and this is vital to keeping the virus in check and reducing the duration of this crisis in each country.

“This pandemic has forced us to address three emergencies at the same time: health, social and economic emergencies, and to be successful we need a joint approach. During this time, countries should continue to focus on health – strengthening surveillance systems, monitoring health services and rapidly responding to any resurgence of the virus – while also devising ways to stimulate our region’s economy and address poverty,” PAHO’s Director advised.

Here in Barbados, as we look forward to what will come in the weeks ahead, whatever changes there may be, we know that it cannot be business as usual. While we are seeing persons being released from the isolation centres and we are seeing a flattening of the curve, it must be reiterated that we still have positive cases.

Therefore, we must ensure that we follow the recommended health protocols and engage in good hand washing and hygiene practices on the whole. Social distancing, or physical distancing as some refer to it, must remain part of the new normal. The wearing of face masks, cloth masks for the general public and medical grade masks for the health care workers on the frontline is still recommended. We cannot throw caution to the wind, because again, we are not yet out of the woods.