Head of Isolation Facilities and Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr. Corey Forde, believes all is not lost, despite all of the challenges confronting the health care system on a daily basis.
He emphasised this last evening during a press conference at Ilaro Court.
While he acknowledged that he had “a strong tenacious young group of people on the ground, who will continue to fight a battle for this country”, Dr. Forde highlighted success stories to show how his team had fought the battle and won.
He said: “Over the last few weeks, we were able to go into one nursing home in the country. With many ill people or people who were positive for COVID, and fortunately, we were able to go into that nursing home and we left it in the way that we got it, that we were able to save the lives of many older Barbadians, of which many or all of them, for the most part, were vaccinated, and I think that this is important for the country to understand that although we’re going through difficult times, we have had serious successes in the battle.”
Accepting that there would be challenges ahead, he said he had personally reviewed all the patients in that facility and there were only two patients of concern.
He added that they both were doing much better and their families understood what was done when the team moved in and took over the facility.
The Head of Isolation Facilities noted many of those cases were centred around the cluster seen at the island’s Psychiatric Hospital.
He disclosed that within the institution’s Grassfield Ward, 43 of the 56 persons tested positive; in the C ward, 65 patients were tested as a result of contact tracing and 64 of them were found to be affected. He also disclosed that 12 staff members had tested positive.
Though admitting it was a tough battle, he assured Barbadians it was not insurmountable. “We’ve been here before. We’ve been into the Psychiatric Hospital … so nothing beats the experience of having been there before. Of course, we are dealing with a different version of this virus which is Delta, which we know spreads a bit more….
“But I think the most important thing I want to assure you of here is that we will do every single thing that we can do possible to help those who cannot help themselves, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated …,” Dr. Forde stated.
The Infectious Disease Specialist provided an update on the number of persons in primary isolation at Harrison’s Point. He noted that there was a large influx of patients in Primary Isolation A and Primary Isolation B, previously known as secondary isolation.
In Primary Isolation A, there were 31 people, with 20 of them on non-invasive ventilation and nine of them intubated, and in Primary Isolation B, there were two patients on non-invasive ventilation and 11 on oxygen. Dr. Forde also commended the medical staff and consultants at all isolation facilities across the island.