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Who believes Barbados is ready to treat Ebola?
Who believes Barbados is ready to treat Ebola?

It is interesting to observe how Barbados has reacted to the Ebola threat. In spite of the assurance from the Barbados government that surveillance measures are in place at the airport and the seaport, in real terms, we know the surveillance is NOT a robust method to screen Ebola affected travellers seeking to enter Barbados.

Given the importance of tourism to Barbados and service economies in the region, a decision to ban incoming non Barbadians who have visited Africa in the last 30 days should have been axiomatic. The region should have acted in concert given our vulnerability as a tourism destination. The fact that St. Lucia, St. Vincent and a few neighbouring islands have banned travellers from visiting who have visited Africa means nothing if the region is perceived by the outside world as one space.

BU is of the view  individuals who have visited Africa in the last 30 days should not be permitted to enter Barbados (and the Caribbean space). The embargo should also extend to imports vulnerable to the virus.

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355 responses to “Impose Ban on Travellers from Africa NOW!”

  1. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    Bush Tea | October 25, 2014 at 7:11 AM |

    @ ac
    Ignorance has no bounds……
    Unfortunately, it has Internet…

    >
    Glorious shot by Bush Tea, off the back foot and hammered backwards of square…..

    And the Kensington Stand erupts!

  2. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    are-we-there-yet | October 24, 2014 at 11:28 PM |

    David, It appears Are-we-there-yet is still suffering a hangover from Friday after work drinking.

    He has some amazing expectations……. Great Expectations even….

  3. David Avatar
    David

    Staying put


  4. FrankTalk Avatar
    FrankTalk

    I HOPE that when the devastation of the “Ebola” HYSTERIA is done, WE diasprearian Africans who retreated, ‘for cover’ from the spiritually sustainable and vital steps towards our TRUE Mother Nation, will recover and RE-TRACK with a MORE definite and Determined Mission to be re-united. For with the (obvious) decline of Europe and The United States of America, there’s NO benefit to be gained from being tied to sinking vessels (and especially when there were NONE in times of their “LARGESS”
    Clearly that, not pregnant but, FERTILE Mother to-be, with all her RICHES is the only sustainable SOURCE for us African Caribbean people.
    POST-SCRIPT
    If you tell a man that he will die and he believes you; that man will die; so beware of the Hysteric DEATH…Death by autohypnosis… autosuggestion. Many, hundred years ago those same voices whispered into our Souls that we are WORTHLESS “Sub-humans” and up to this DAY many of us are still struggling to rid ourselves of that NOTION.

  5. FrankTalk Avatar
    FrankTalk

    @LAWSON,LAWSON I wish it was that simple…it is not. Obama id the ‘President’ of the MOSt ‘powerful’ nation of the world and colour has NOTHING to do with that.

  6. lawson Avatar
    lawson

    Forget telling a man if you die…here is a better example your punching above your weight, you know people actually believed that for years. I am sorry to hear that you inherited ptsd from your ancestors Returning to the true mother nation right away would allow you to be on the ground floor when it becomes that economic powerhouse.

  7. FrankTalk Avatar
    FrankTalk

    @ LAWSON, we are NOT going empty-handed as beggars…we are going with, equally, vita sustenance. SORRY, I do NOT understand your: “that you inherited ptsd from your ancestors”

  8. are-we-there-yet Avatar
    are-we-there-yet

    David and ac. I think you have both grasped opposing ends of the factors that make the issue of banning or not banning a quite complex one for a small country like Barbados .

    First of all, all conceivable aspects of the problem have to be analysed by the technicians in the Ministry of Health and other concerned ministries. Was this done? Were the relevant people keeping tabs on the rapidly changing situation and modifying their analyses and advice as necessary?

    Then alternative options with their inherent probabilities of success have to be presented to a Cabinet committee for their decision on which option or suite of options should be selected for implementation based on science as well as the peculiar imperatives of the Barbados situation and in this case, of the relatively fluid Caribbean situation also. Were all options and probabilities carefully assembled or was there over reliance on WHO, PAHO, CDC solutions? Were the perspectives of resource poor small island states with significant reliance on Tourism adequately taken into account?

    A Caribbean wide concerted strategy would need to be pushed as if we do not adopt such a strategy it might well result in unwonted reactions. eg. It would appear that all our neighbours have now adopted a strategy to ban while we are using screening only. One of the possibilities arising out of this disparity is that it significantly increases the risk of Barbados getting more than its fair share of possible Ebola infected people if a few West Africans, who cannot now get into the other countries, use Barbados as a route to get to their ultimate destination be it Canada or the USA or Jamaica or wherever. Was such a possibility factored into the decision making? Were common positions negotiated at the Caricom level?

    The Public has to be apprised of its expected role in the strategy suggested and their buy-in assured as early as possible in the process. The decision to site a state-of-the-art Isolation / quarantine centre at Enmore suggests that officialdom went ahead without adequate consultation with the neighbours who would have been affected and have now dug in their heels, having spent scarce cash and fx in building the centre. At this stage could a temporary remote structure still be built?

    My own perspective on the whole Ebola situation has been changing as more facts on the outbreak became available on the Internet. Such facts, especially those related to studies on the epidemiology of the disease to determine the best strategy for its containment and control on the African continent, should however have been readily available to professionals and analysts in our Government in real time. I would expect that these facts would have been used to inform the options provided to and thereby the decision taken by the Government re. banning. But if they weren’t, is it still possible for Government to have a relook at the decision if further facts and developments warrant such an approach?

  9. David Avatar
    David

    @are-we-there-yet

    Does it matter if the Caribbean countries do not have an Ebola ONE strategy? The region is perceived as ONE any way.

  10. are-we-there-yet Avatar
    are-we-there-yet

    Crusoe; Re. your 8:30 post.

    I stopped drinking alcohol long ago. But perhaps, arguably, I’ve been operating under a longstanding hangover of perhaps 30 or so years duration, drinking the figurative cool-aid of working in Government and allied institutions .

    In the post that you are referring to I said:
    I have faith in the ability of our Health Professionals to safely handle a small incursion of Ebola but hope that it never happens.

    I don’t have much faith in the Politicians but I do have faith in the Health Professionals who would be on the front lines to deal with any incursion of the virus here, if they are provided with adequate PPE’s, if they are operating under tried and tested protocols and if the epidemiology of the disease continues to be essentially as is published in the CDC protocols and successfully used in Nigeria, Senegal and Dallas, albiet with some hiccups in Dallas. The small size of our country and good communication networks would stand us in good stead in this effort and indeed could allow us to track contacts in much less time than was done in the Duncan case and in the Nigerian and Senegal cases.

    What our Health Professionals have to do is not rocket science but is something that they would have all been trained for and, most importantly, their very lives and those of many others would be at stake if they make foul-ups so I would expect them to do their jobs VERY VERY carefully and thoroughly. They have had enough time to correct the obvious errors that were made in Dallas when that US state became the guinea pig for testing ebola incursion actions.

  11. are-we-there-yet Avatar
    are-we-there-yet

    David; re. your 10:23 am post where you asked:

    Does it matter if the Caribbean countries do not have an Ebola ONE strategy? The region is perceived as ONE any way.

    I think it does matter if a lone country has a strategy that is at variance with that of the other countries and one which might arguably allow a greater risk of leakage into that country as compared with the others. Alternatively, such a divergence of strategies might allow the out-of-step country to benefit from the rigour of the other countries’ strategy (where they are successful). If however a case develops in any one country all the countries suffer because of the perception that the Caribbean is ONE, touristically and otherwise.

    If we were convinced that our strategies, resource availablity, etc,, would allow us to be ahead of the curve, then being the odd man out would not necessarily benefit us if the disease takes hold in one or more of the other countries while we stayed free, again because of the the One Caribbean perception.

    I think on balance that a Caribbean wide approach to this problem would have been best in the long run.

  12. David Avatar
    David

    With the doctor in NY falling to Ebola NY and NJ have imposed a mandatory quarantine on some individuals returning home who worked in an Ebola locale. A COMMONSENSE position that should have been taken if the risks were efficiently assessed. Reactive?

  13. are-we-there-yet Avatar
    are-we-there-yet

    I agree. A commonsense reactive position.

    Also, it is clear that the vast majority of cases that have moved internationally is almost totally related to Care givers, and a few other people such as Journalists who have been directly assisting infected people in the battle zones of the infected states.

    It is a no-brainer that such people should be quarantined. If Barbados does not place such persons under quarantine whether they have symptoms or not for the mandatory 21 days after exposure we would be negating everything else we have done re. copying of protocols, etc.

  14. David Avatar
    David

    The downside is that less healthcare workers will be volunteering to work in Ebola infested countries.

  15. ac Avatar
    ac

    Yes ignorance has no bounds especially when it holds steadfast to stubborness and standing in the way of progress , a disease whose characteristics is usually found in the brains of the mental deranged and people who have “outlived “their usefulness. e.g bush Tea.for all that it is worth his characteristics fits snuggly into “such”glove

  16. ac Avatar
    ac

    It is also of note worthiness that with all the fear and hysteria , that president Obama took the opportunity to send a message to the world with the photo of him hugging the nurse who had contracted the virus .a message which seeks to repair andhealed the scars and stigma attached to the virus through misguided and misinformed sources

  17. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    How are we to believe anything that Minister of Health, John Boyce tells us?
    In the midst of the ‘Chicken gun ya ‘ outbreak, here is what the flag ship of Oistins ,and the same Minister of Health’s constituency, looks like.
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/83717797@N04/15004979444/

  18. FrankTalk Avatar
    FrankTalk

    @ ac, please re-read your: | October 25, 2014 at 12:07 PM |for accuracy and rewrite an appropriate piece

  19. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    @David | October 25, 2014 at 8:33 AM | Staying Put.

    Good, if it is isolated, we wont know (politicians wont tell us), that it is here. Non one will see the hazmat suits and comings and goings.
    With where the unit is now, as soon as one hazmat suit appears, the whole a Buhbayduss and the Internet World will know and see video even.

  20. ac Avatar
    ac

    frank talk i would not rewrite! the .
    in order to clarify one must understand the intent of the photo and its relevancy, how often does one see a picture of president of the USA hugging a victim who has been afflicted with a highly contagious disease. the actions of the president was clearly to undermine the loud noise of fear and stigma attached .

  21. Easy Squeeze (Make No Riot) Avatar
    Easy Squeeze (Make No Riot)

    BU gets a F Fail for the African Challenge
    and F the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

    http://youtu.be/GF9YNVngAlE

  22. FrankTalk Avatar
    FrankTalk

    @ ac. at the time of the hugging was the lady afflicted with the deadly and highly contagious Ebola disease or was she cured?

  23. Boy Blue Avatar
    Boy Blue

    @ac………….the actions of the president was clearly to undermine the loud noise of fear ………………..
    …………………………………………………………………………………….
    Just what the doctor ordered for the people of Barbados.

  24. ac Avatar
    ac

    Frank talk if you have been following or reading articles ,every perception and assumptions was attached to the many ways the virus is/was contracted. ,again the photo op.is put out there to calm the fears and misinformation and stigmas attached to those who have contracted the virus.
    it is not what::one” individual believes or think it is a recognition of all the issue and the numerous collaboration of misinformed voices of FEAR that the president is trying to quell. , u need to understand the psychological impact of this picture and it usefulness to disarm removing doubts on a fear that had left many unequipped to face the many questions of HOW ! and IF/s

  25. FrankTalk Avatar
    FrankTalk

    ac, you spoke a lot about the ‘value’ of the Obama/nurse picture…from the much readings of the (same) subject I have noticed mountains of cynicism about that same picture, I am NOT disputing his intention to issue the photo and his story; I question the VALUE and I still ask the question: IS THE LADY AN EBOLA VICTIM???

  26. ac Avatar
    ac

    @ frank Talk

    Here is an expert from an article which highlights what i am trying to explain to you and the relevancy of the picture taken by the president hugging the cured Ebola victims,,
    ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
    Ebola makes stigmatized, abandoned orphans

    Monrovia, Liberia (CNN) — Two children orphaned by Ebola play in the empty corner of a Liberian orphanage. Their parents died last month, and none of the extended family is willing to claim them
    The orphans are not sick, and pastor John Ghartey is tired of seeing them not being taken in. He is trying to change attitudes in his congregation at Christ Kingdom Harvest Church in New Georgia, Liberia.
    “Ebola is separating families because when your family has come down with the virus, nobody want to touch. Nobody want to interact,” Ghartey said.
    The disease has indeed turned the social fabric on its head. Extended family usually takes orphans in, but fear has broken the chain, said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF’s regional director..
    “Ebola is turning a basic human reaction like comforting a sick child into a potential death sentence,” Fontaine said.

    http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/20/world/africa/ebola-liberia-orphans/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

    for every action there is a reaction. a need for a change in attitude was demonstrated by the President in the picture for all to see,

  27. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    @Frrank,

    As you note, at the time of the photo, the nurse has recovered.

    You must understand, ac is a DLP flagbearer and as such, has gone into ‘Government support’ mode, lest criticism of the inept way this is being handled in Barbados continue.

    So, ac is in damage control and support mode, as always.

    If the Obama photo means anything, it is to get the message that the virus ‘can be beaten’, not that it cannot be contracted relatively easily for anyone in close contact.
    But, bear in mind that the same nurse had the best of the best care AND was treated on time.

  28. ac Avatar
    ac

    @ crusoe

    Ignorance has no bounds……
    Unfortunately, it has Internet…

    now u can eat those words, FOOL

  29. are-we-there-yet Avatar
    are-we-there-yet

    Crusoe;
    I think, fwliw, that ac is absolutely correct in her characterization of the message that the Obama photo is sending to most open minded viewers. It is that someone who has overcome the virus should not be shunned and stigmatized as he/she cannot .infect anyone by casual contact. It seems to be a campaign by the President as he also did the same thing with one of the Doctors who was cured after being infected in West Africa with Ebola and had undergone successful treatment back in the USA.

    Now, I have little doubt that, after the photo op with the Nurse, Obama’s handlers would have ensured that he was absolutely free of any possible contamination, after all he’s the President, normally the most important figurehead in America. Do you remember that George Dubya Bush had a habit of having an attendant follow him with hand sanitizer to give him a spray (sometimes quite openly) after he had simply shaken hands with practically anyone?

    But the message that former sufferers of the disease are not carriers of Ebola is an essential tool to try to get the public’s buy-in to combat the problem and return to normalcy when the outbreak is licked and that photo should have gone a long way in publicizing that fact.

    What Obama needs to do now is to visit his troops in West Africa or send his VP or Ebola czar there and have some similar photo ops with formerly infected Doctors to spread the same message there where it is sorely needed, as ac has indicated.

  30. ac Avatar
    ac

    thanks AWETY .unfortunately some people cannot see the forest for the trees, it is the EFFECT that has been opened which exposes the truth and full meaning of the photo -op. with a telling picture which sends a message worldwide from one of the most important voices throughout the world, the internet is abuzz with questions regarding this photo op by the president and it.s true meaning.

  31. David Avatar
    David

    Ebola and the Fear That Makes Us Stupid

  32. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    I notice that nobody is seeking to impose a travel ban on travelers from the United States or even from states within the U.S that have or have had cases of Ebola.And of course we won’t, since the United States is our favorite place, and New York is our favorite city, and Brooklyn New York is our favorite hang out spot, and our family and friends live there, and work in those health care institutions.

  33. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    And since the index case in Nigeria was carried to Nigeria by a diplomat. nobody has suggested that we impose travel bans on diplomats.

    Should we?

  34. ac Avatar
    ac

    as one who have followed this story i too was saddled with fear and doubts. however after seeing that there was a chance of survival if certain initiatives on my part were taken immediately the fear receded ever so slowly given way for a more relaxed and “back to normal” way of life . those who continue to be drowned by fear in the face and evedience of those who have been treated and cure would have to live and endure the pangs of a virus whose roots when lodged in the mind would cultivate and erode one’s sensibilities/sensitivities for a very long time in places that treatments can;t cure .

  35. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    ac | October 25, 2014 at 8:18 PM | @ crusoe Ignorance has no bounds…… Unfortunately, it has Internet… now u can eat those words, FOOL

    My my. methinks I hit a nerve there…. Ms (DLP) ac…

    Onward ye march, eh? Protect the message at all costs, eh?

    No, I wont eat any words, why should I?

    Lol…… Yes, we got your message all right….. ps—- make sure you have your party dues paid up….or does someone pay them for you?

    😉

  36. ac Avatar
    ac

    yes crusoe they are all paid up every month to the dollar and no doubt about it , the spent is all worth it , every ten cents ! five cents ! twenty five cent ! and penny included .

  37. David Avatar
    David

    There is now some tension between The three States who have banned returning health workers and the Federal authority in the US. They are making this up as they go along.

  38. Fractured BLP Avatar
    Fractured BLP

    News making the rounds this morning is that Mia Mottley has asked the doctors at Bayview hospital to transfer Owen Arthur to the Ebola isolation unit at Enmore.

    Wow…,hell hath no fury like a woman scorn!

  39. ac Avatar
    ac

    Obviously this is a area of medicine where the collaborative world wide health system and team workers local and international have never entered before ,and there would be bumps along the way as ALL try to agree as to what is appropriate ,but most importantly remaining focus at the job at hand and away from the path of fear and panic is the right way to go,

  40. David Avatar
    David

    The CDC is not happen at the quarantine imposed on health workers because they believe it will deter these workers from supporting the Ebola health effort overseas. A nurse who returned to the USA this week was held in a room for 3 hours and then placed in a tent. They all need to get on the same page because the current scenario playing out will not engender confidence by the public.

  41. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @David October 26, 2014 at 7:27 AM “There is now some tension between The three States…They are making this up as they go along.”

    I wouldn’t say so David. It is more like everybody is learning as they go along. And as people understand the disease better, the protocols are evolving to accommodate the new knowledge.

    As you well know David. Only a fool operates on yesterday’s science.

  42. David Avatar
    David

    @Simple

    We are saying the same thing. It is why we have to restrain from discussing Ebola in absolutes.

  43. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Do we know if all the ambulances in Barbados now have hazmat / wbola suits on board?

    Has the protocall for dealing with ebola in Barbados been published?

  44. ac Avatar
    ac

    a baby creeps before he walks! it is called a learning PROCESS , sonner rather than later Everyone would be on the same page as ALL are seeking the same goal ,one of finding appropriate answers and solutions .NO NEED TO PANIC,

  45. David Avatar
    David

    @Hants

    The talk show today will feature Ebola. Good questions, we need more communication with the public something this administration gets a big F.

  46. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    The reason I asked those questions is because there could be a visitor/tourist in Barbados who could be about to exhibit ebola symptoms.
    Then what?

    As remote a possibility as that may be you have to be prepared.

  47. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ ac | October 25, 2014 at 10:11 PM |
    “.as one who have followed this story i too was saddled with fear and doubts. however after seeing that there was a chance of survival if certain initiatives on my part were taken immediately the fear receded ever so slowly given way for a more relaxed and “back to normal” way of life.”

    Have you realized that the Ebola virus has spread at its most “virulent” pace (pandemic proportions) in those West African countries whose public health systems have been severely compromised either through economic and fiscal mismanagement and corruption and or civil strife.

    Past civilizations and even our forbearers in both recorded and living memory have always faced many biological challenges and risks either to their existence as a communal group or as a species of animal.

    I am sure you have understood by now, either from your foreparents or through scientific knowledge, the true meaning of the adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

    When a government allows its public health system to disintegrate and fails to institute measures to minimize those risks that can lead to the prevalence of diseases that severely affect the health of its citizens then you know you on the way to disaster.

    The present administration is playing Russian roulette with the country’s public health system and is therefore compromising the measures needed to prevent outbreaks of a virulent nature.
    Just look at what is happening with the garbage and waste disposal system.
    What about the misplaced priorities regarding the Water Authority’s mandate to deliver clean and potable water on a consistent basis to the population.
    Outbreaks like Cholera have done in the past untold damage to societies including Barbados in the 1850’s.

    You guys have been warned about your lackadaisical attitude to public health issues and the requisite commitment to the employment of preventative measures to minimize associated risks. You refused to listen and have allowed the mosquito population to get out of hand hence the unstoppable spread of the Chikungunya. What will be next? What are you waiting for? A pied piper to walk the Fairchild Street as happened in 1854?

  48. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @millertheanunnaki | Chikungunya.

  49. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    I read that Jamaicans died from complications relating to Chikungunya.

    It is suggested that persons who have respiratory illnesses/conditions could die iof the also contract Chik V.

  50. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Source.

    http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Vere-Tech-mourns-CHIKV-related-death-of-teachers–student_17760480

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