est. 2007

Barbados Underground

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Coronavirus Back Story – Why Barbados is NOT Banning Travel from Affected Areas

The Editor Barbados Underground Barbados, W.I Dear Sir/Madam There was an article in your newspaper of 3 .February 2020 entitled: “Barbados not rushing to ban travellers from China.” The same message was also aired on radio. Mention was made about the statistical likelihood of an outbreak locally being under two percent. There was even mention…

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The Editor

Barbados Underground

Barbados, W.I

Dear Sir/Madam

There was an article in your newspaper of 3 .February 2020 entitled: “Barbados not rushing to ban travellers from China.” The same message was also aired on radio. Mention was made about the statistical likelihood of an outbreak locally being under two percent. There was even mention of the fact that since 1967 there was no real impact on Barbados of the outbreak of contagious diseases. According to the aired news the local authorities were following the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. As the holder of a doctorate in microbiology and some one who has done post doctoral studies in the discipline, I have a few questions, which I want answered in the public interest.

According to the Center for Disease control and Prevention (CDC). the virus has an incubation period of two weeks. Infected person maybe asymptomatic during the two-week period. It was for this reason the USA instituted a ban on persons who had been exposed for less than two weeks entering its domain. The reason given for doing so was the logistics involved in screening for potential carriers. Let me explain.

Let us assume there is an asymptomatic carrier who has entered the Barbadian domain and is interacting with the locals. After realizing that there is an active carrier in Barbados, it is incumbent on the authorities to track down and screen all persons who have interacted with the carrier. If the carrier has interacted with one hundred persons, each person has to be screened. This only allows for interaction of the carrier with one hundred persons. Allowance also has to be made for the interaction of each member of the one-hundred with other people. As can be envisaged, the number of persons required to screen, dramatically increases to such an extent, that the screening process breaks down. It is for this reason that countries have introduced a ban on persons who come from infected areas. In the case illustrated above where would Barbados get the required trained persons to actively carry out screening?

There has been mention of the fact that Barbados is following the WHO guidelines. Is this the same WHO that was shown to be totally incompetent its handling of Ebola? What about the Haitian cholera outbreak? The latter was under the aegis of the United Nation of which WHO is a part. The best scientists in the field do not work for WHO; they are found in research institutions. The WHO like all other United Nations bodies are constrained by political realities of member states who push political objectives ahead of what the correct scientific should be. As far as I can make out, there seems to be a pecuniary method behind Barbados’s stance on this matter: namely an effort not to affect the tourist industry.

 

Sincerely

 

Robert D. Lucas, PH.D.

734 responses to “Coronavirus Back Story – Why Barbados is NOT Banning Travel from Affected Areas”

  1. GP Avatar
    GP

    re The test kits most likely will utilize enzyme linked immuno assay (ELISA) or a modification using monoclonal antibodies. Straight forward test with the kit.
    IF THIS IS SO WHY ARE THERE NO SUCH KITS ON ISLAND. WE HAVE KNOWN ABOUT ELISA AT QEH SINCE DR WHITE WAS AROUND AS HEAD OF QEH LAB AT THE INCEPTION OF ELISA TESTING?

  2. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    You mean almost a month and the kits has not arrived
    I find that hard to believe but rather believe govt is stonewalling

  3. Freedom Crier Avatar
    Freedom Crier

    “THE VICTIMS OF BEIJING’S MAN-MADE EPIDEMIC ARE BEING CREMATED AS FAST AS THE OVENS CAN BURN” — Steven W. Mosher:

    DR. LI WENLIANG IS DEAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS — AFTER BEING CENSURED BY THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT FOR RAISING THE ALARM.

    https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/wuhan-doctor-coronavirus-2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1286

    The video out of China’s Hubei province is heartbreaking: A young woman stands outside the doors of a hospital while a body bag is unceremoniously dumped in the back of a hospital van. As the vehicle pulls away into the night, bound for a nearby crematorium, she can be heard crying, “Mama, mama.” She takes a few halting steps after the vehicle before breaking down in tears.

    “I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye,” she sobs. “They wouldn’t even tell me what killed my mother. But we all know that it was the coronavirus.”

    The publicly reported number of deaths is horrific enough — as of Friday night the toll had risen to 722 — but the evidence suggests that the actual number of victims is far, far higher.

    How many people in China have fallen victim to the coronavirus to date? One hint comes from how busy Wuhan’s 14 crematoriums have suddenly become.

    One crematorium manager told a Hong Kong reporter that, in normal times, his 24 ovens were lit five days a week for four hours at a time. Now, he said, they have so many corpses to deal with that all the ovens are going around the clock. This suggests the body count must be in the thousands.

    A worker disinfects a doctor with alcohol before leaving a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan…

    https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/28965995.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1286

    With the epidemic spreading throughout China, the Ministry of Public Security, which controls all of the police departments in the country, has swung into action. A Feb. 28 directive ordered all police throughout the country to make “wartime preparations.”

    The police are to “maintain social stability” by “severely” punishing any public or online reporting about the spread of the epidemic. They are also to help “control the disease” by enforcing quarantine orders and helping to speed the distribution of medical supplies.

    In other words, China’s leaders know they have a national emergency on their hands but, for political reasons, are still trying to control the narrative by downplaying the seriousness of the epidemic. The Communist Party’s penchant for secrecy drives it to punish those who report honestly and accurately about this unfolding disaster. Even though honest and accurate reporting would save lives.

    This week, Dr. Li Wenliang, 34, died from the coronavirus after trying to spread word of the disease weeks before China would admit it was a serious threat. When Wenliang first warned his medical school classmates on Dec. 30 about the outbreak, police detained him for “rumor-mongering” and his posts were censored.

    Instead of transparency, party leaders at all levels engage in multiple deceptions. They attribute many deaths to other causes, like simple pneumonia, and then cremate the bodies before an autopsy can be performed. They limit the number of coronavirus test kits that hospitals are given each day, thus reducing the number of “proven cases” that can be diagnosed. They deliberately underreport the number of deaths, while keeping the crematoria furnaces going day and night to destroy the evidence of their deceit.

    Now the scope of the disaster is coming through even in official pronouncements. On Jan. 28, for example, the Hubei authorities announced that they were offering “free cremation for the corpses of coronavirus victims. Vehicles, staff, and protective gear are being dispatched to each funeral home [in Wuhan] to improve the capacity of transporting and dealing with the corpses.”

    If this sounds like there are an awful lot of corpses to “deal with,” that’s because there are. Why else would the authorities have forbidden funerals and mandated immediate cremation — if not to prevent the dead bodies from piling up?

    THERE IS SOME SUGGESTION THAT, LIKE THE DEADLY SARS VIRUS OF 2004, THE NEW CORONAVIRUS ESCAPED FROM A RESEARCH LAB IN CHINA. BUT WHETHER THE VIRUS ITSELF IS THE RESULT OF EVIL OR INCOMPETENCE, THE EPIDEMIC ITSELF IS A CREATION OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY.

    Had party leaders not delayed taking action for weeks after the first coronavirus infections appeared and had they been transparent about the danger it posed to the Chinese people, the epidemic would likely already be under control.

    INSTEAD, THE VICTIMS OF BEIJING’S MAN-MADE EPIDEMIC ARE BEING CREMATED AS FAST AS THE OVENS CAN BURN.

    WITHOUT EVEN A CHANCE FOR THEIR RELATIVES TO SAY GOODBYE.

    https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/28943960.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1286

    Steven W. Mosher is the President of the Population Research Institute and the author of “Bully of Asia: Why China’s ‘Dream’ is the New Threat to World Order.”

  4. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Can we say incompetence, or carelessness is to blame? Or are we world class and punch above our weight?

  5. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    If these people are still quarantined at Paragon it might be a possibility that they have shown early signs detection
    If by now they haven’t then it means they would have been released amongst the general population
    Either way these are pertinent questions which needs to be answered by govt / officials

  6. David Avatar
    David

    @Dame Bajans

    This is the case.

    What is also shows is that nobody can categorically state the virus is on island as some have claimed on the blog.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    @Dr. Lucas

    Is it correct to say the test kits were only made available for worldwide distribution last week?

  8. GP Avatar
    GP

    re Is it correct to say the test kits were only made available for worldwide distribution last week?

    what does it matter if as Lucas says that ‘” The test kits most likely will utilize enzyme linked immuno assay (ELISA) or a modification using monoclonal antibodies. Straight forward test with the kit.”

    IF THIS IS SO WHY ARE THERE NO SUCH KITS ON ISLAND. WE HAVE KNOWN ABOUT ELISA AT QEH SINCE DR WHITE WAS AROUND AS HEAD OF QEH LAB AT THE INCEPTION OF ELISA TESTING?

    is there no ability to do ELISA TESTING OR PCR in Barbados?

    DO POSTERS UNDERSTAND WHAT IS POSTED ABOVE BEFORE THEY ASK QUESTIONS

  9. David Avatar
    David

    The following seems to be a useful like.

  10. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    CORONAVIRUS TESTING CAPACITY COMING
    Tue, 02/04/2020 – 7:38am
    Within the next two weeks, Barbados will have the capacity to test for the presence of the 2019 novel Coronavirus.

    Stating this assurance had been given by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kenneth George highlighted this was important as no other Caribbean island had this capability.

    “CARPHA at the moment cannot test for the virus and we have personally intervened with PAHO to make sure that this is fast-tracked. We will be the first island in the region doing this. We are trying our level best to let persons know that we have put a plan in place and there is always need for a review of the plan and improvement of the plan,” he said.

    George pointed out that as the island was in the midst of an economic recovery programme, funds were not readily available.

    “We had issues with getting the quarantine stations up and have taken an active approach as to how we are going to solve this,” he said.

    Speaking on Sunday night’s episode of The People’s Business, he explained while there were quarantine stations at the ports of entry, these were only equipped to handle four to six persons and not for the 14-day incubation period of the coronavirus.

    “We are in the process of scaling these up. Those quarantine stations were never intended to keep persons quarantined for 14 days to three weeks. Those were simply transfer holding areas. That is not the solution for this particular virus. However, we intend to pursue that. There are quarantine stations at both the seaport and airport. The airport one needs some infrastructural work done,” he added.

    The Ministry of Health’s Port Health Specialist, Stephen Harte said one of the major issues encountered with the facility at the airport was that since it was not used on a regular basis, deterioration had set in.

    “So we have been having discussions with GAIA Inc. in terms of having a a mobile hospital that can do the triage and assist with the public health emergencies that may occur and they were looking at sourcing the tent that could be used for that. At the seaport, Barbados Port Inc. has been working to get that back up and running, but at the seaportm passengers who are sick are actually isolated in their cabins or the medical facility on board the ship,” he noted.

    Barbados Advocate

  11. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Sobering revelations by the chief Medical officer
    Which once again begs the question
    Are those persons who have been quarantined shown any flu like symptoms
    Also if so where are being hospitalised
    If not have they been released amongst the general public
    It is over a month that these people have been quarantined and forthright and truthful information should have been given about them by now
    Alarming that the media is so locked unto a position of protectionism aiding govt measures that media seems to forgotten that as the fourth estate there allegiance is first and foremost for the people
    This will all end in tears

  12. Dame Bajans Avatar
    Dame Bajans

    The fact is, if people are indeed quarantined because they were showing the recognized symptoms, then the government did the right thing to remove them from the general population for the safety of people like Mariposa and my relatives still living down there.

  13. GP Avatar
    GP

    ABSOLUTELY CORRECT DAME P
    HOW ARE YOU?
    HOW YOU KEEPING SWEET……..NOT THE SUGAR THOUGH

  14. Dame Bajans Avatar
    Dame Bajans

    Dr. GP.

    I am doing fine. Not too sweet. The same reading for 6 years. I have some other sweetness though. I am doing a “Whitehill”. He is so nice and gentlemanly…….51 years old. No, no, no. I am no cougar, just a lioness. I am enjoying it while it lasts. What do you think of premarin? My Dr.(female) prescribed it.

  15. GP Avatar
    GP

    RE I am doing fine. Not too sweet. The same reading for 6 years.THATS GREAT!

    PREMARIN IS OK THEY CALL IT HORMONE REPLACEMENT
    BUT IF NOTHING IS BROKEN YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO
    BUT SOME HORMONES SHOULD NOT HARM
    I KNOW YOU ARE INTO YOUR NATURAL DHEA (:SWEET POTATOES AND YAMS)
    VERY BEST WISHES

  16. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Not at all arguing that if they are people with symptoms that they should not be quarantined
    Just stating that people should be told all information.
    So far i have read of countries that have released information stating all facts and i haven’t read of panic in the streets

  17. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    @February 10, 2020 3:30 PM “I KNOW YOU ARE INTO YOUR NATURAL DHEA (:SWEET POTATOES AND YAMS)”

    Oh dear, I have been eating plenty sweet potatoes and yams since childhood. We were too poor to buy rice, macaroni cornmeal, etc. so we ate yams from january to August and sweet potatoes thereafter.

    i hope that I have not been doing myself any harm.

  18. Dame Bajans Avatar
    Dame Bajans

    Mariposa, just think for a minute. One minute only. Can you imagine the PANIC in Barbados if the government announced that they suspected cases of the virus was there and they had no proof? It is better to err on the side of precaution.

  19. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    Doan mind Mariposa, an unrepentant DLP yardie.

  20. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ David February 10, 2020 1:21 PM
    Would seem so. The virus particle would have to be purified and inoculated into eggs for example. The particles harvested using high speed centrifugation or ultra-filtration and injected into animals to grow the antibodies,/serum from some one who survived. Would take some time to get the antibodies in sufficient quantities.

  21. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Fool the necessary information should not only be given to barbadians but people making plans to visit the country
    How would u like for a family member to visit and then is infected with the virus all because barbados govt refused to release all or any information
    It seems most here are only having a selfish political view of the issue which is dominated by the tourist dollar
    Fuh Christ sake the chief Medical officer information is shocking having statements that should make anyone shudder

  22. David Avatar
    David

    @Dr. Lucas

    Thanks

  23. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    @Mariposa February 10, 2020 5:54 PM “Fool the necessary information should not only be given to barbadians but people making plans to visit the country How would u like for a family member to visit and then is infected with the virus.”

    One of my close family members went to work every day a few weeks ago at Sunnybrook where a corona case was treated. and discharged.

    Ya din see me here weepin’ and wailin’ and knashin’ my teeth.

    A few family members work in health care in Barbados(3), the U.K(1), the U.S. (1), and Canada (1), physicians, nurses, lab technicians, administrators.

    Disciplined hard working people. They don’t run around like headless chickens.

  24. GP Avatar
    GP

    SS
    @February 10, 2020 3:30 PM “I KNOW YOU ARE INTO YOUR NATURAL DHEA (:SWEET POTATOES AND YAMS)”

    Oh dear, I have been eating plenty sweet potatoes and yams since childhood. We were too poor to buy rice, macaroni cornmeal, etc. so we ate yams from january to August and sweet potatoes thereafter.

    i hope that I have not been doing myself any harm.

    ON THE CONTRARY……….NO HARM AT ALL
    ONE OF THE REASONS YOU ARE IN TOP SHAPE AND SO SWEET AND SEXY
    KEEP GOING

  25. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    I am trying. Still I have gained 13 pounds in the past 37 years.

  26. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    Correction: We grew our own corn, and had it ground at Hill on Roebuck Street. Then we had cou-cou, corn pap corn bakes, corn pone, corn dumplings etc.

    We don’t grow corn any more. The monkeys too love corn.

  27. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Dont have kits
    Don’t have sufficient housing space to quaratine people suspected of having the virus but have an open door policy to let Chinese in the country
    And people hear saying govt is doing what is right
    Really

    Worth Repeating

    Dont have kits
    Don’t have sufficient housing space to quaratine people suspected of having the virus but have an open door policy to let Chinese in the country
    And people hear saying govt is doing what is right
    Really

  28. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    On another note

    Minster Hinkson told those people living in and around the surrounding areas of the Mangrove landfill he wish them well
    Sorry about the inconvenience
    Thank them for their cooperation
    But he is seeking a solution for the 8.000 tires that are at the land fill
    I wish he had told them that the Fees and other taxes they pay as environmental fees would be discontinued until govt found a solution
    Hell No but what the heck
    Them suffering Not him

  29. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    We could reduce the 8,000 dumped tyrea a month by having a truly great public transport system. But what did your DLP do, reduce the Transport Board fleet from 150 to 50 buses, and now everybody feels that they must have a car (except me of course) with no thought as to what will happen to the tyres.

    Why did they let the public transport system fail?

  30. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    A call for good ethical journalism is necessary in barbados
    Over the past two months journalist has held fast to a closed mouth measure implemented by govt on the Corona virus
    Since citizens advocacy ( including yours truly) has placed govt feet to the fire
    I gives me great pleasure to say govt has become more opened with information that is necessary and important both to tourist and citizens
    It is amazing how arse kissers and Jac…arsses lead by Silly woman would be so comfortable and appreciative of govt closed mouth measures on this issue
    Citizen advocacy has done an excellent job as others would see that in the past 24hrs their has been an ever presence of the flow of valuable information coming govt in local media outlets on the virus which included the wherabouts of people who were quarantined
    Minister Bostic has finally given some more perspective as to questions which were being asked by citizens
    As far as i know barbadians are educated and can handle whatever is thrown in their direction good or bad
    I for one would not expect riots in the street from the truthfulness of information given but a more heightened realization of preparedness by any means necessary by citizens

  31. Dame Bajans Avatar
    Dame Bajans

    Silly Woman,why did you have to remind me. I used to bring the corn in a pillow case in the morning. Drop it off at Hill and pick it up in the evening. I thank the creator the Bathsheba bus passed Roebuck street and I did not have to walk to Fairchild Street with that pillow case on my head, in my school uniform.

  32. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    Oh my goodness Dame. I thought that my mother was the only one who took the corn to the mill in pillow case. lol

  33. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    @Mariposa February 10, 2020 9:17 PM “As far as i know barbadians are educated and can handle whatever is thrown in their direction good or bad.”

    Exactly.

    But weren’t you the one who spent the past many days talking about panic?

  34. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Henny Penny still at it, I see.

  35. john2 Avatar
    john2

    HARAYYYY FOR MARI
    For holding government to the fire and making them bend and give up the information.
    now all the worriers panicers in the island can sleep a little better with their masks one . HARAYYYYYYY

    BU saving somebody life and it isn’t coronavirus victim.

  36. TheOGazertds Avatar
    TheOGazertds

    John A
    VC
    NO
    WS
    HA
    Bm
    John2s
    Silence. Problem solved?

  37. GP Avatar
    GP

    SS
    @February 10, 2020 3:30 PM “I KNOW YOU ARE INTO YOUR NATURAL DHEA (:SWEET POTATOES AND YAMS)”

    Oh dear, I have been eating plenty sweet potatoes and yams since childhood. We were too poor to buy rice, macaroni cornmeal, etc. so we ate yams from january to August and sweet potatoes thereafter.

    i hope that I have not been doing myself any harm.

    OUR BODIES STOP MAKING THIS GOOD STUFF DHEA ABOUT AGE 21-22
    BUT IT IS THOUGHT TO BE FOUND IN YAMS AND SWEET POTATOES
    CANT REMEMBER WHAT ITS GOOD FOR BUT IT IS GOOD

    READ ABOUT IT IN A COURSE ON BOTANICAL MEDICINE ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO

  38. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Oh. I woke up this morning having a feeling of relief knowing that govt took a moral step of releasing truthful and meaningful information a correct path in further avoidance of misinformation flowing into the public domain
    Also realizing that people upon receiving the information released by govt officials have not rioted in the streets
    Knowing that barbadians would continue to proceed cautiously and take all necessary steps for protection in areas where govt have not
    So to the Silly clowns who think barbadians are illiterate to the point of ignorance to u mariposa say
    Speak only for your self idiots

  39. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    And what is the truthful information? Did they confirm any instances of the virus on the island???? Did Henny Penny prove herself correct on any score??? Did protocol change? Are they now banning travellers from affected areas?

    Here is what they said – we are not as ready as we would like to be but we are working on it.

    And we need people to stop disseminating misinformation. It breeds panic. Panic can be more deadly than the disease itself.

    And YOU, Henny Penny, were the chief culprit! And ALL for political reasons.

    You are so transparent. Who do you think you are fooling??????

  40. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    So until the two weeks for arrival of the kits what happens to people who has entered the island afterwards then show symptoms
    What measures are there put in place to have medical practitioners to alert health officials of patients they have attended / to be knowingly carries of the virus

  41. David Avatar
    David

    We have the kits, keep up. Government requested a supplementary of 700k today to fund an expanded area to facilitate quarantine of NEW suspected cases.

  42. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Good job. But why so many if govt said they were no cases on the island
    However i take note from your comment that they are “new” suspected cases.
    Or is this new suspected and transparent way of govt telling half truths
    Be that as it may some truthfulness is better than none albeit it might be sugar coated

  43. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    David by all means Mariposa should keep the noise level high on the Corona virus issue and should not behave or act like u and mainstream media to stiffle and hold back all relevant informant from the public
    Mariposa voice might have been the lone voice asking govt for information
    But it only takes a ripple to make a wave

  44. David Avatar
    David

    How can the government confirm if there are caronavirus cases on the island? What they did was to house quarantine and observe people who based on travel itinerary to affected countries out of an abundance of caution. Is tour head so hard you cannot understand?

  45. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Again i asked if govt is doing all out of abundance of caution why has govt ordered in excess of 700k kits
    The word caution can imply many things

  46. Dame Bajans Avatar
    Dame Bajans

    Mariposa,that 700k is NOT kits, but supplementary financing. It is $700,000. Why would Barbados with such a small population want 700,000 kits?You really dont understand what you read.

  47. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    Apparently according to the news at least nineteen persons were quarantined or some such thing. Tends to suggest lack of transparency. Monitored forty-six persons now down to nineteen over the last couple of weeks. What a pack of asses trying to hoodwink the populace.. Now making mandatory the two-week quarantine period.

  48. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Anybody dead yet?

  49. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Dame bajan
    Stand corrected

  50. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    My mistake does not override how govt took a close mouth approach to issuing relevant information
    Now at the eleventh hour trying to play catchup giving halftruths and looking like a clueless govt
    Truth never sours no matter how one tries to distant themselves from the truth

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