Press Conference & COVID-19 Update (April 5, 2020)

Press Conference & COVID-19 Update (April 5, 2020)

Posted by Barbados Government Information Service on Sunday, April 5, 2020
Press conference and COVID-19 update with Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic. (April 5, 2020)

The majority of the COVID-19 patients at Government’s isolation centres are in stable condition.

This news has come from Isolation Facilities Manager, Dr. Corey Forde, who is also Head of the Infectious Disease Programme at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

He gave clinical updates on the patients at a press conference today, where it was revealed that an 81-year-old man, who was neither in home quarantine nor at any of government’s quarantine/isolation facilities, died from the virus. 

This was coupled with news that six patients, who were being monitored at government facilities, had recovered from COVID-19.

The three facilities referenced by Dr. Forde were Paragon Base in Christ Church; Enmore, Collymore Rock, St. Michael; and Blackman & Gollop Primary School, Staple Grove, Christ Church.

“Patients, all at Paragon campus, have remained stable to this point, of which there are 19 patients at that facility.  It is at this facility that we will have four patients being discharged – three males, and one female.  At our campus two, at our Enmore facility … we have four patients – three females, and one male.  And of those patients, three of them are ventilated.  One on the ventilator is doing quite well, [while] the other two patients remain in critical condition.

“Thankfully, for us, one of the patients, who tends to be doing quite well, has also tested negative, in terms of swabs, at this point.  At our third campus, Blackman & Gollop, where we have 28 patients, two patients are being discharged from that unit, and three patients at that unit still remain quite ill.  We expect those two patients to be discharged from that facility at this point.  So, that’s really the clinical updates,” Dr. Forde explained.

He said the six persons who recovered were discharged in keeping with international testing and standards.  Patients require two negative screens for COVID-19, which are done 24-hours apart, he pointed out.

As for the others who remain in isolation, Dr. Forde stated: “I would take pains to say that for the majority of patients they actually, at this point, remain stable. There is actually a large percentage of the patients who are actually doing quite well; walking around like yourself or myself.  But we’re really awaiting them to clear the virus, and we don’t get to decide when that happens.  We’re continually testing them for that effect and I think we will have some more pretty soon.”

melissa.rollock@barbados.gov.bb

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