Concerns addressed
NEWS reports that the Blackman and Gollop Primary School has been handed over to health officials for use as an isolation facility in the fight against the COVID-19 virus, is not sitting well with some Barbadians.
Several voiced their concerns on social media outlets, while others took to the airways yesterday to speak out against that Christ Church learning institution being pressed into action to accommodate COVID-19 patients.
In a press release from the Government Information Service on Sunday, it was revealed that some 48 beds were already in place, with the final capacity expected to be 126 beds. The release added that the intention is to use the facility as a place to accommodate persons who though infectious, are doing well; as well as persons who might require medical support, but not intensive care.
Responding to those concerns, COVID-19 Czar Richard Carter, speaking on a radio programme, said while preparations have been made for the use of a range of facilities if they become necessary, the Blackman and Gollop School has “not yet been pressed into a demand for housing persons on quarantine or persons on isolation”. Carter went further, indicating that if such a decision is made in respect of the use of any school, the information will be properly communicated to the Barbadian population.
“Such a decision will only be taken as an absolute last resort, if we are in a situation where we run out of space. You will appreciate that we are still learning a lot about the pace and trajectory of the epidemic, but what we have seen from many other places, is that there has been a mushrooming and an explosion of cases that you can see doubling or even tripling of the number of cases almost overnight,” he said.
Given that, the government official made it clear that they could not wait for that mushrooming to occur to do the necessary preparations. He spoke then to the work which is taking place at Harrison’s Point, the Elayne Scantlebury Centre and the District Hospital in St. Lucy, noting that it is being done with the view to have those facilities available for persons to be quarantined and or isolated as needed.
“There is no immediate contemplation for the use of any school. The preparations and so on are being made, if we are actually pushed into that position by virtue of the explosion of numbers,” he stated.
The COVID-19 Czar’s comments came as he explained why the Blackman and Gollop School was identified for use. Carter said that the recommendation was made by health officials because of the “relative isolation away from immediate population centres” and the relative proximity to the Enmore and Paragon facilities if persons had to be transferred there.
“However, the bottom line is, we are not immediately contemplating or expecting any of our schools to be pressed into use for quarantine or isolation, because we are obviously sensitive to the fact that if that does happen, that that school would carry a stain around it that would be difficult to remove,” he stated. (JRT)