COVID-19 update and press conference – March 1, 2021. (PMO)

Increased surveillance of all nursing homes will be a priority for Government in the future.

Chief Medical Officer, (CMO) Dr. Kenneth George, gave this assurance this evening during a press conference to provide an update about COVID-19 and its impact on the island. It was held at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, at the Frank Walcott Building on Culloden Road.

Dr. George said: “… the individuals affected in the nursing homes typically are frail. They typically are in the 80s. And they typically have a lot of chronic disease associated …, in their medical history. These are unfortunate times, COVID has a much higher morbidity and mortality among older folks. And we plan to increase our surveillance of all nursing homes. And that is why we took the unprecedented step that in the first wave of the vaccination program, that we were going to try to reach out to nursing homes and their staff across Barbados.”

In addition to the vaccination of seniors in Nursing homes, the CMO also spoke about having effective protocols within the eldercare facility, noting that “the major issue with nursing homes is that they must have the IPC, their infection, prevention and control strategies on point and to make sure that these vulnerable people are taken care of  where they currently are at.”

fabian.belgrave@barbados.gov.bb

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