Barbados: Health Minister mourns death of nursing assistant due to COVID-19

Barbados: Health Minister Jeffrey Bostic releases statement paid condolences health worker (nursing assistant) who dies of COVID-19.

Health Minister Jeffrey Bostic stated, “with sadness and a deep sense of loss, he and the entire Ministry joined with the members of the health fraternity and nurses, in particular, to mourn the passing of a Queen Elizabeth Hospital Nursing Assistant, who died yesterday as a result of coronavirus.”

Furthermore, he added, the Nursing Assistant died at Harrison Point, where she had been a patient for nine days. Our fallen sister loved her job; loved caring for other people; she was a brilliant nurse; well-loved and; well respected. As the first health care worker to lost her life from coronavirus in Barbados, her death shook the nursing and health care communities the previous day.

Additionally, Every day, health care workers in Barbados and across the world go into battle and put themselves at risk to keep societies safe. They are our first line of defense, and we owe them an extensive debt of gratitude for their service and sacrifice. In this daily fight waged across the globe, several health care workers have contracted coronavirus while trying to save others.

Before the previous day, Barbados had so far been spared the loss of any of its health care workers. The cases of coronavirus among the QEH staff have primarily resulted from community spread and not direct patient to caregiver contact.

If this young woman’s life is not to be in vain, her death must share two lessons with the rest of this country. Those lessons are: 1) that COVID is no respecter of the age of persons and all of us must take it seriously; 2) that we in this country owe a responsibility to each other, to our communities, to our families to be more thoughtful, caring and protective of each other and to follow the health and safety protocols, or we will be placing not only ourselves but someone else in harm’s way.

The Ministry of Health & Wellness extends deepest condolences to her grieving relatives and friends. He requested Barbadians to pray for these loved ones and others who are mourning the loss of close ones due to coronavirus. He mainly asks for your prayerful support for our nurses, doctors, orderlies, general workers, and other frontline workers.
May she rest in peace.

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