Acting Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw just declared in a national address that 45 positive cases have been identified infected with COVID 19.
Barbados NOW on LOCKDOWN
407 responses to “Barbados NOW on LOCKDOWN”
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@Forty, quite so. If the US government does not act quickly to inject substantial assistance into the medical field, this will be a total disaster for the west.
With the US in trouble, the Caribbean is in trouble. Canada too.
Most do not realise that this can bring capitalism crashing down.
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@Crusoe and forty acres
Interesting comments from you two.
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@Mariposa
“But let me ask u a question do u live in barbados…”
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Yes, I live in St Philip in a little board house on a marl road out past six roads.I have been in self imposed isolation with my wife since March 14 because of foreign travel. Our 14 day isolation ended just in time for the curfew to start, so by the middle of April we will have been enjoying each other’s company for a full month… it’s like another honeymoon.
Emerald City Supermarket delivers all our groceries which I order by email… prescriptions and alcohol as well. they charge $25 for delivery (it used to be $10 before the COVID crisis), but on the other hand I’m saving over $100 in gasoline every week that I don’t have to drive back and forth to the office and to meetings and to clients. When it was our anniversary we got Hopscotch to bring us a fancy meal from the restaurant we probably would have gone to in normal times. The cost of delivery was about the same as we would have left as a tip if we were sitting in the restaurant.
We work from home and hope that FLOW keeps our broadband working. All in all I have absolutely nothing in the world to complain about.
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@Crusoe & @fortyacresandamule
This is indeed a crisis of capitalism… and the flip side of crisis is opportunity. I am looking for opportunity to help build a better society post crisis: one that radically reduces social disparities and cares for disadvantaged people much more effectively. I don’t really care what it ends up being called: ecosocialism, capitalism v2, humanism, bajanism, … as long as we grow beyond the dysfunctional greed and corruption that has warped our planet so badly in recent decades. -
@Peter
How do you visualize a new system will take root?
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Hants
April 1, 2020 10:09 PM382 tests 45 positive.
That is a rate of infection of 11.5%
To me a layman that is high. Hope Bajans are persuaded to follow the directives.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
How was the 382 sample taken?
It has to have been a biased sample.
It was not a random sampling of the population.
The objective is to FIND the virus in contacts of a known case, not waste any tests on people unlikely to have it.
The 382 persons were chosen because the experts expected them to have the virus.
The authorities were only right in 45 cases out of the 382 they expected to find.
If it was that they wanted to find negatives, then they were right in 337 out of the 382 tests administered.
Now, that is high.
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The GoB has ALREADY been quarantining people at Paragon. Only challenge, is they cannot place them all in the same big room, they need to separate them. You are simply breeding potential carriers if you don’t do that. My surprise, is that officials in the later stage adopters of isolation/lockdown, seem surprised that person to person spread is occurring. STAY HOME. Treat every person, including yourself, as an asymptomatic carrier. Don’t give it, don’t get it, starve it.
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peterlawrencethompson
April 1, 2020 11:44 PM@Crusoe & @fortyacresandamule
This is indeed a crisis of capitalism…++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mayor de Blasio, a Democrat and Governor Cuomo, a Democrat and Congress woman Pelosi, a Democrat encouraged large gatherings with no social distancing when they knew a virus that was killing Chinese was on the loose.
Their motivation was to get money at any cost.
For Democrat read socialist/communist.
Donald Trump, a Capitalist, sought to curtail these gatherings by closing the border.
Wealth and the future were his considerations as a capitalist.
The correct way to interpret this is to say this is just one more instance of socialists/communists trying to make a fast dollar regardless of the expense.
Profit was not the motive, money at all cost was.
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I tried THREE TIMES to tell Hants that the sample is taken from those suspected of having the virus and when testing positive, those who have had contact with them. I TOLD HIM that we ought to count ourselves lucky when some contacts test negative. Subsequently HE FOUND AND POSTED the article that explained that the authorities were concentrating on contact tracing.
I hope that he is satisfied now that you have told him.
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@David
It will not “take root.” We will need to build it with painstaking effort bit by bit in the teeth of determined opposition from the powers that be. The only thing that makes it possible is the collapse of the old order. We have been telling anyone who would listen that tourism was a dying industry… well now it is dying exponentially faster than we thought it would. This means that necessity will compel others to join us in the search for new economic cornerstones.I am hoping that the financiers behind stupid proposals like Maloney’s Bay St. Hyatt will take their greed elsewhere now that the calculus of tourism is utterly changed. Maloney will continue to push the project because he will take his extortionate profits from selling concrete to himself and creating this white elephant, but Hyatt will need to redo all of their spreadsheets to see if it makes any sense for them. I can only hope that the government does not extend concessions to tempt Hyatt to stay in the game… that is something we’ll need to watch out for and make politically uncomfortable for them to accomplish.
Everybody finally understands the need to build a new agriculture industry for our own food security, so now we might finally take that challenge seriously.
I hope it brings recognition of the need to completely rebuild our dysfunctional educational system… and I’m not talking of the 11+, I’m referring to needing comprehensive early childhood education, a primary system where the best schools are public not private, and a secondary system that finally rids itself of the crippling colonial heritage baked into institutions like Harrison College and Queens College.
It’s a tall order, but the longest journey begins with simple footsteps.
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NorthernObserver
April 2, 2020 12:00 AMThe GoB has ALREADY been quarantining people at Paragon. Only challenge, is they cannot place them all in the same big room, they need to separate them. You are simply breeding potential carriers if you don’t do that. My surprise, is that officials in the later stage adopters of isolation/lockdown, seem surprised that person to person spread is occurring. STAY HOME. Treat every person, including yourself, as an asymptomatic carrier. Don’t give it, don’t get it, starve it.
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NO ….. YES!!
In addition, limit the persons the GOB isolates and has to make provision for to persons who will be a threat in households where the at risk population, the old/unhealthy, are present.
… and get a handle on the numbers and realise that worldwide deaths due COVID-19 are small compared with other causes of death.
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To put it simply, Hants, you cannot take that 11 % and extrapolate it out to the general population or say that approximately 1 in 10 of us are carrying the virus.
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@John
Trump, de Blasio, Cuomo, Pelosi, Sanders, Biden… all simply different flavors of capitalist. We’re leaving ALL of them behind 😉 -
Donna
April 2, 2020 12:13 AMI tried THREE TIMES to tell Hants that the sample is taken from those suspected of having the virus and when testing positive, those who have had contact with them. I TOLD HIM that we ought to count ourselves lucky when some contacts test negative. Subsequently HE FOUND AND POSTED the article that explained that the authorities were concentrating on contact tracing.
I hope that he is satisfied now that you have told him.++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There you go!!
“If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs …”
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@Peter Lawerence april 1 2020 11.37 pm
Good for u
However i know of many elderly barely making ends meet and who cannot afford your kind of extra luxuries
Some still struggle to make ends meet
Some still have to go on doctors appointments in timely fashion
Some still have to catch a bus or ZR as means of transportation
Some still have to go on long lines to buy food
And most importantly have to wait on a monthly pension check around which they make a workable plan for themselves
So u see Peter not everyone who lives in barbados can afford an extra 25 dollars for home delivery and in the event for doctors visit they cant afford doctor calls but have no other choice but to see a doctor
It must be hard being an elderly living in barbados on a monthly check and now forced to adjust and adapt new measures that have interrupted their flow of life -
@Peter
The reference to taking root was how would a new system initiate. Does the groundswell come from the proletariat? We know it will not be championed by the bourgeoisie.
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Crusoe
April 1, 2020 10:58 PM@Forty, quite so. If the US government does not act quickly to inject substantial assistance into the medical field, this will be a total disaster for the west.
With the US in trouble, the Caribbean is in trouble. Canada too.
Most do not realise that this can bring capitalism crashing down.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Agree, the objective of socialists/communists is to do just that, at any cost.
Capitalism creates wealth long term.
Profits are generated if costs don’t exceed revenues.
Socialists/communists don’t care about costs, just revenues.
So when Pelosi flew into San Francisco on her broom, she was trying to stop the capitalist, Trump, from interfering with revenues and had no concern as to the human costs of her actions.
Here she is after she got off her broom and took a walkabout.
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David
April 2, 2020 12:32 AM@Peter
The reference to taking root was how would a new system initiate. Does the groundswell come from the proletariat? We know it will not be championed by the bourgeoisie.++++++++++++++++++++
… of which you, Peter, are an admitted member!!!!!
Talk about tongue in cheek!!
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@Mariposa
“It must be hard being an elderly living in barbados on a monthly check…”
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You are completely right, which is why we need to build a new society and economy which radically reduces social disparities and cares for disadvantaged people much more effectively. -
@David & @John
“We know it will not be championed by the bourgeoisie.”
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You are correct of course… except for those of us who are traitors to our class 😉
I think that the split may well be more demographic than class based, with millenials and everyone younger finally getting fed up with the way we Baby boomers have screwed up the world and their lives… except for those of us who are traitors to their generation 😉 -
Ok Peter, then the hunt is on for the call to action.
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John A
April 1, 2020 10:06 PMIf businesses are going to close at 2 pm or 3 pm, why would one have a curfew starting as late as 8pm? 6 am to 6 pm should have been included in the new measures today.
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Partying starts after 8pm.
The time would suggest that the curfew is directed at the youth.
Years ago at HC I remember it was claimed that when Tank was prevailed upon to let the 6 formers start their dance in the hall at 10 pm as 8pm was too early, he responded by saying “Ah please, at this time of the year it gets late early”!!
They would have preferred midnight but he had the power so 8pm it was!!
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@Cruesoe. For sure. Talk about medical support. I read where the US federal government US$2.1 trillion fiscal intervention has made provision of US$ 117 billion for hospitals and veterans care. Another $27 billion is for drugs and vaccines development.
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@ Donna,
You and John are probably right.
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peterlawrencethompson
April 2, 2020 12:41 AM@David & @John
“We know it will not be championed by the bourgeoisie.”
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You are correct of course… except for those of us who are traitors to our class 😉
I think that the split may well be more demographic than class based, with millenials and everyone younger finally getting fed up with the way we Baby boomers have screwed up the world and their lives… except for those of us who are traitors to their generation 😉++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The 60’s and the move towards socialism/communism by many!!
Cool at the time but long term devastating.
Guess the millennials have decided to exterminate the baby boomers with the virus.
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The closure of Cin-Cin was a genius move. The owners obviously anticipated the Chinese bioattack.
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@plt
prophetic words….”except for those of us who are traitors to their generation 😉”. Once we remember EVERY generation has their traitors? Even the Millennials and X’ers. If there is a demographic push, do you think they will ‘share control’ or keep it within their ranks? Leads me to suspect it has to be broader or they will be trubble. -
And because I can’t help being naughty –
Here’s hoping you are old but not cold!
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@David. I am not a fan of the bright lights. I live a very simple life. For most people having all the fancy material stuff and the comfort it brings is seen as progress and prosperity. I beg to differ. They are so spoiled and pampered, psychologically they are not condition for times like these.
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And dis fuh de miserable ones!
Sixty-four, seventy-four or eighty four.
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fortyacresandamule
April 1, 2020 9:22 PM@john. Why are trying to hijack this topic now bro ? You did a decent job on a previous one. I have never seen you so hyped up before. Let it go bro, you are not convincing most here with your volatile postings, which ran the gamut from indenial to crazy confirmation bias stories.
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Getting visions man!!
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Northern 1.27
Where did @PLT talk about traitors to his generation? I read it as traitors to his class….that has a totally different sociological, political and historical meaning.
Unless I am wrong, we must get our quotes right. BU has a reputation for re-interpreting what people say. Most of our lawyer/politicians are class traitors, not generation traitors. -
Has any one seen the latest comments from the the Chairman of the BTMI Sunil Chatrani?
He believes that the country should not become distracted by Covid-19 and should focus on ways to strengthen our tourist industry?
https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/04/02/agency-mulls-tourism-product-relaunch/
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Who scripted Santia’s speech last night? No exercise; you can go shopping but no buying booze, but you may buy sugary drinks; I am not clear about motorists; government closed down, but nothing about banks and the suspension of payments, apart from a brief mention of ATMs.
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@TLSN
There is something about the human condition that Christians call good and evil. I call it savagery. The man is beyond redemption. But, from his name, I am not surprised. Some cultures have no soul. They are vile. Is that the man from the hotel chain?
Our upbringing can influence how we behave for generations. It is not yet clear how, but that historical memory becomes part of our cultural DNA and envy, greed and lack of empathy form part of that distorted personality.
The man should be driven from public life and removed from the country. Social vermin. -
Tick Tock Tick Tock
Can somebody tell me if the virus has a daytime or nighttime( time line) to be active
I can understand large cities imposing time lines because of large populations and doing so with sensible measures
However this 6 pm – 8am time line is a joke and does nothing to stop the spread of the virus
Even though the PM knows and it has been documented that the virus is being brought into the country by visitors the airport remains open
Why wouldnt the PM do the right thing and close the airport instead of making the populace nighttime hostages in their home all because of reckless and unconscionable pretentious measures built within a curfew policy while the main source of the problem which are the ports of call remains untouched -
It would be interesting to see how barbados govt force Jamaica to open its borders for the Jamaican female who broke the curfew
This is going to be interesting
The court deemed that the woman should be deported what transpires behind close doors as govt tries to push it weight against a closed border policy in Jamaica would expose govt hypocrisy and govt many ways of trying to fool people with terms like humantarian grounds upon which they can leave their borders open and welcome all and sundry to borders
As i say the Trinidadians had a Constitutional right to return to their country and barbados should have used the Constitution to fight against the hardened policy of Trinidad in like manner which they would have to fight Jamaica if Jamaica refused to let one of their citizens back in the country
Govt must be consistent in their policies if not the end result makes them look.like fools and headless chickens -
SMH cant undetstand how govt insist on keeping the airport open
What is most dumdfounding is that with all the big heads in govt not one have the brain the size of a pea to tell the PM it is time to close the borders -
The behaviour of Trinidad to its own, Barbados having to host Trinidad nationals who have no hope of return until after the crisis, could very well be the catalyst that breaks up CARICOM, just as one from eleven is zero or whatever that was.
Barbados would be better served in the future by partnering with Guyana and Cuba, especially with the former’s massive resource wealth, despite the current political impasse and the latter for its advanced medical care and social programmes.
Trinidad has little to offer Barbados, save more runaway capitalism and corruption.
Business should be encouraged, but not at the cost of social fabric and above all else. Business should be an inclusive part of an advanced economy.
Trinidad is a failed state. Years of corruption have brought the promise of wealth to a state of economic and social ruination.
What exactly does it offer Barbados?
After this episode, Barbados should walk away from CARICOM and work with Guyana and Cuba for the betterment of all three.
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Mariposa
April 2, 2020 5:46 AMDid you not hear the speech? Mandatory quarantine to all arrivals. Close borders to what flights? There are none, except for those that will provide much needed supplies to the island and the few wealthy private jets, which the country needs desperately.
No airline is flying commercially now.
Aside from which, what is the point of closing borders when the people refuse to listen? Groups still engaging in rumshop antics, shoppers not exercising social distancing?
The virus is in Barbados already, you really think those forty five are the only ones?
Some may not like the Czar, but sadly, he is right. Own way….
For an allegedly literate people, bajans are incredibly dense.
You see how big countries are being brought to their knees by this virus? In Barbados, likely the death toll from the virus will be in the thousands, let us hope not in the tens of thousands.
There are many factors which lead me to that thought. Lack of social distancing, high rate of non communicable disease, density of population per square foot. These will all impact the rate of infection and death.
Very sad, but there it is.
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John
April 2, 2020 2:42 AMfortyacresandamule
April 1, 2020 9:22 PMNone of us are perfect, far from it, but I am concerned about John. His usual reserved thought seems to have run amok.
Not sure if the recent liberty on marijuana has caused him to experiment or whether, in isolation, which can be mentally challenging, he is imbibing more of the ESAF White than usual, but he seems to have gone astray form the garden path.
Put he and Tron together on a daily internet show and all of us may flip out, despite the entertainment value.
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Crusoe check grantley Adams website before opening uh mouth so early
The fact still remains and as govt acknoweldge that the airport and sea port was the vital source of the problem
Jet blue and American still hauled people out of airports that are opened and bring them to barbados
I also made mention of private jets still being welcomed
Go do your research
Leave me alone -
NO..Crusoe govt had a Constitutional right to stand up to Trinidad govt against the policy of refusing to let the 35 people back into the country
Barbados govt was wrong in not using the constitution as it main force of power
Since govt set an unconstitutional precedent it would be of interest if Jamaica simply say yes to the deported female or use the same tactic as Trinidad
As i pointed out clearly govt does not run on feelings but must abide by all laws which are relevant to keeping its country social and economic enviroment stable
These laws guide and give purposeful meaning and direction to avoid pitfalls and to guide Democratic countries in times of crisis -
Obviously the woman will be deported when Jamaica opens its borders, until that happens she resides at Dodds.
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John A April 1, 2020 10:06 PM #: “You trying to tell me they have more old people on the streets after dark than younger ones?”
@ John A
Surely by now you should realize Mari is being provocative.
She was criticizing ‘government’s’ partial lockdown, calling for more stringent regulations, now that is about to occur, she has to find something to criticize at all cost.
It’s what I call the ‘George Street Condition.’
Hahahahahaha!!!!
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David April 2, 2020 6:29 AM
Obviously the woman will be deported when Jamaica opens its borders, until that happens she resides at Dodd
xxccccccxcccccccccccvvvDavid do u know the time period for Jamaica govt to open its borders
Also until then would it not cost the taxpayers of barbados to housed her
This govt has not laid out any plans that can deal with unforseen curcumstances
Oh btw has govt tested her or quarantined her before putting her amongst the prison population
What other detail is known of this female
Another reason to belive thay Barbados has a headless bunch running this country -
@ Mariposa
I want to ask you three simple questions.
Yes, “I agree the Trinidadians had a Constitutional right to return to their country.”
(1). “Barbados should have used the Constitution to fight against the hardened policy of Trinidad….” Please explain.
(2). Let’s assume by ‘saying’ using the Constitution to fight, you mean going to Court. I’m sure you’re aware that process may take a few days for lawyers to get a hearing, which most likely would be adjourned. And, since the situation was ‘immediate,’ lawyers would need time to prepare their case. So, the process to “fight” Trinidad would obviously take time.
Bearing in this in mind and the fact the Trinis can’t return to TT, could you please ‘tell’ BU where they would reside while the “fight” is going on?
(3). As it relates to the Jamaican, comparing Trinis who were stranded with a Jamaican who is LIVING HERE and broke the law, ‘is like comparing apples and oranges,’ they’re two different scenarios.
If Jamaica implemented a closed border regulation similar to that of TT, don’t you believe the Barbados government would wait until Jamaica’s borders have reopened to deport him/her?
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@ Mariposa
Again you are on the ball. There is no need for a great constitutional convention. The three Trinidad national were intransit through Barbados with a final destination in their home country.
If Trinidad had indicated that they were not going to accept their nationals, then the government of Barbados should have returned them to the previous port of embarkation and on the plane they arrived on. Instead, as usual, we started playing social workers to the world.
Of course, we are dealing with human beings, but both Trinidad and the UK share these values too. Citizenship/nationality means something in law.
However, we are world class; we punch above our weight; we are top lawyers. -
RE: “Also until then would it not cost the taxpayers of barbados to housed her?”
I’m thinking it wouldn’t cost the tax payers just as much as it would cost (or even much less) to remanding a Jamaican who was caught attempting to traffic drugs into the island and sentenced to X amount of years in prison; or one who committed any crime and was remanded for a similar period.
RE: “Oh btw has govt tested her or quarantined her before putting her amongst the prison population.”
With COVID-19 precautionary measures in place, only an idiot would believe the authorities won’t test someone who has been remanded, especially when the state is responsible for the safety of prison wardens and inmates.
The ‘George Street Condition.’
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