Death rate from COVID-19 rises to 23 in Barbados

Barbados: Death rate from COVID-19 has risen to 23 in Barbados.

The report says that the most recent patients were two female downed by the viral diseases, an 80 year old Trinidadian and a 75-year-old Barbadian.

The Barbadian senior passed away on the night of February 12, after exhausting three days in the Primary Isolation Unit of the Harrison Point Isolation Facility. The Trinidadian resident passed away this morning (February 13) after 15 days on a ventilator in Primary Isolation at Harrison Point.

The Ministry of Health & Wellness is extending sympathies to the grieving families and friends of the deceased. Following expressed sadness that these deaths occurred as the Ministry of Health & Wellness is moving to take the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme to full roll-out.

Some 100,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, a gift from India’s Government, will be used in the island’s immunization program. At the same time, part of this consignment will be shared with sister CARICOM nations.

Health Minister Lt. Col. Hon Jeffrey Bostic reminded the value of the Covid-19 vaccine as part of the arsenal in defeating the disease. He addressed this while questions had been asked about the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, which had been recommended by the World Health Organisation as well adapted to persons over 65. “This is important given the fact that senior residents constitute a large percentage of the Barbadian population.”

Minister Bostic further stated that WHO had also indicated the vaccine was proven to have a high level of efficiency and was recommended by WHO for use “even in countries with a circulation of the (South African) variant.” Up to this point, the Covid-19 vaccine has not been approved for persons under 18 years old, but research is now ongoing to test the fitness of the AstraZeneca vaccine for minors.

The Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory recorded 114 positive coronavirus cases, which include results from samples received between January 29 and February 12, 2021.
With the appropriate reagent now in position, the laboratory is in clearing the backlog created due to the short use of manual extraction in the processing of specimens.
These results were recognized from among 2,720 tests handled by the lab on Friday, February 12.

Till now, Barbados has reported 2,061 confirmed cases – 893 females and 1,168 males – and 1,616 persons have redeemed. The public health laboratory has performed 112,556 tests since February 2020.

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