Barbados records first COVID-19 death

BARBADOS has recorded its first COVID-19 related death.

During a press conference yesterday morning, Minister of Health and Wellness Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic revealed that the deceased was an 81-year-old Barbadian man who returned to Barbados from the United Kingdom on March 22. He died on Saturday night.

According to Minister Bostic, the man and his wife 83, were tested for COVID-19 on Saturday after reporting symptoms. “The condition of the deceased man who had underlying medical conditions deteriorated rapidly after being admitted into care. I was informed of his death late last night (Saturday), from COVID-19-related pneumonia and complications of diabetes.”

Head of Infection Control, Infectious Diseases at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), and Isolation Facilities Manager, Dr. Corey Forde told the media yesterday that the deceased and his wife presented to the hospital. He noted that while his wife is generally stable, she was admitted to the Enmore facility as a precautionary measure.

Minister Bostic also noted that they would not have been required for mandatory quarantine “because the mandatory quarantine ordered for the UK, Europe and the US would have been issued after their return to Barbados”.

During the press conference it was also revealed that the number of positive COVID-19 cases has risen from 52 to 56 as of April 4. It was also stated that six persons who have recovered from the viral illness would have been released yesterday. The age range of those affected by the virus has now moved from seven to 83 year old with the seven year old reportedly in mild condition and “doing well” and this time.

The Health Minister said while persons are preoccupied by the increasing number of confirmed cases, they must get used to this reality since it will continue. “The issue for me as the Minister of Health and Wellness is not the number of confirmed cases, but the capacity to be able to treat to cases and I am saying to Barbadians, we have at the moment more than adequate capacity to treat to these cases. We have structures that have not yet been utilised and we have from Plan A to Plan Z in terms of obtaining or having additional facilities.”

“There is no need to panic Barbadians this is something that we must face together. I salute the staff of Ministry of Health and Wellness who are working really hard... From time to time we may not get everything right because this is a protracted war. But the guarantee that I give to Barbadians is that should we fall in those few times we are not going to surrender, we are not going to retreat. we will pick ourselves up, we will dust ourselves off and we will start all over again,” he said. "So the mantra going forward, no retreat, no surrender. Unite to fight the virus," Minister Bostic said. (JH)