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
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407 responses to “Barbados NOW on LOCKDOWN”
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A
MAN no one aint going to die in two week. The most there need is water then they can ration what they have even if it half a chicken and a bag of flour,
at the end of the two week who did hungry will realise that it best if the have something growing in their back yards, even if it in a pot. these two week would provide a good opportunity to push your grow your own food theme.
Barbadian aint that bad yet. I am sure if some run out of all food in say a week and the call say the police station, one of the cop would go and rund up some breadfruit, bananas etc and take and give them.
Defence force SHOULD NOT be ENFORCING ANYTHING. they can assist the police but they do not have any policing power.
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@ john2
If no other developed country in the world with infections above 45 decided not to close the supermarkets do you think we know better than the whole of the developed world?
The problem goes back to what I refer to as our piss poor enforcement. Why with a defence force even if in plain clothes couldn’t the personal space have been enforced? We again go at the fallout as opposed to addressing the cause.
In all this time other than 1 Jamaican woman, how many have been charged for breaking the curfew? The AG said today they had cases of illegal construction going on but the people involved were warned. WARNED why were they not charged?
Nuff talk no action then followed by a panic decision based on a lack of enforcement. Same story different day.
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@John A
Why would you want Barbados to follow the developed world where infections and deaths are running high?
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A.
if I break the distancing rule what will the defence force do?
They cannot touch me unless they are assisting a police officer.Where I am in georga is also going on shelter in place (lock) down from tomorrow. Supermarket? guess what will happen to my butt if I am caught outside tomorrow?
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@ David.
I think it was the WHO who said that a key to fighting the virus was good hygiene and access to a balance meal.
So tell me how much bottles of sanitizer miss Brown shop in St Peter got in stock now? You think she got 4 bottles of Panadol? I never see fresh food in a small shop yet either. So God help the diabetics and hypertensives too I guess. Most diabetics shop twice a week as they use mainly fresh vegetables etc. So forget them too let them eat cornbeef and biscuit too then, after all the funeral homes got to live too.
Any how lets watch how this will unfold. I figure by Tuesday all supermarkets will be reopened. This time hopefully with police or defence force present to maintain personal spaces. Plus why say one thing at 7.30 last night and then come back and panic people at 1pm or so today? Wunna like a boat sail in high wind and all bout de place.
Don’t care what nobody say my F- standing!
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@ John A
Small shops will provide goods that are in demand. We must not find excuses for killing off small village shops then complain about poverty.
@John A, usually you are on the ball, on this issue you are wide of the mark. Would you put your public health in the hands of Trinidad-owned supermarkets? If there is a shortage who do you think there will serve first? -
@ John 2
In Times of national security and crisis the defence force can be called on to assist in keeping order. You mean to tell me if the situation so dire as to call a curfew it ain’t dire enough to call in the defence force too?
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@ John A
Cool it. The guys said they have a model ; so perhaps the model is informing these decisions. But from our experience in modelling social situations they seldom track reality. The mathematics are neat and elegant ,but there is always some significant factors that are missing. Garbage in. Garbage out. They are trying hard. THIS IS UNCHARTED TERRITORY.
Decisions can be changed. They changed overnight and they can change again at the first sign of dysfunction.I am concerned though that a test that is applied to a non-random sample is being used as an indicator for the incidence in the whole population.
You are doing a good job holding their feet to the fire. Carry on smartly.
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@John A
Sanitizer is a poor substitute for soap and water.
Stop to rh home.
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The situation in Barbados is now as it was in Europe two weeks ago. I freely admit that I WAS WRONG. The Communist lung-killer bug is also spreading like wildfire through the tropics.
We need a TOTAL lockdown. The military needs to prosecute anyone who sets foot outside for the next four weeks.
In addition, I suggest cutting off all communication channels with the outside world so that the population does not panic. So we also need a shutdown for the Internet in Barbados and for all other international communications. This is the only way to prevent the opposition from continuing to abuse social media.
We must also restrict freedom of expression in general. The government should temporarily ban all printed newspapers.
On the other hand, democracy need not be restricted, as we already live in a democratic one-party state. Elections could be permanently suspended following my vote as an amateur constitutional lawyer (LOL) thanks to the 30-0 situation in parliament. Similarly, the government could easily abolish the ordinary courts and replace them with a military tribunal.
If we do not take radical action now, it will all end in bloodshed.
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@ Vincent
But that is exactly what they are basing their decisions on. They are taking the results of testing say 300 highly exposed persons, many of who have travelled recently and saying well if 45 out of 300 positive then 15% say of our population could be positive. To me that is an unsatisfactory assumption based on too small a sample. So if I go and test say 900 people in St Lucy and st Thomas and all negative then what happens to the infected percentage?
It is like me going in a DLP strong hold village of 50 people last elections and saying I took a sample and the Dems will win at the polls.
I maintain this last chapter has been badly handled. Prior to this I approved of all that was done.
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A.
The defence can ASSIST THE POLICE. They are not police and does not have police powers. there is a reason there are called DEFENCE FORCE. they are not law enforcement officers.
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“Barbadian aint that bad yet. I am sure if some run out of all food in say a week and the call say the police station, one of the cop would go and rund up some breadfruit, bananas etc and take and give them.”
it will revive the community spirit, that used to obtain before before the wannbe developing and first world bullshit…
plant your own damn food, you do not need soil to plant food anymore, use your phones and google how to….stop the dependency on supermarkets…at least reduce it significantly.
planting yam and dashene does not require a lot of land, neither does cassava.
yellow meat breadfruit and buljol…lawd..
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By the way we hear a lot about the UWI mathematical model that government is working to. Why can’t they publish the model In the US and UK the models are public property. In the UK we have a dominant model from Imperial College, and a competing one from Oxford.; both are in the public domain.
Correct. Not just in the UK+ US. In many countries, these models are open source, with all the code and assumptions freely available. I’d love to have a look at the one from UWI.
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Any how all that think she was right let us give it time and see what unfolds. Hopefully it will not result in too much fallout before it is reviewed. As I said i not concerned for me as I am neither diabetic or hypertensive. I also got little cash here to buy what I may need. Unfortunately they are many out there that can’t say the same thing though. What we have done is sacrificed our right to food because we were unwilling to enforce the personal space law, even though we had the man power at the garrison sitting down to do it with. We either in a crisis or not. If it’s reached the stage of a curfew well then in my books we should of used ALL OF THE MANPOWER AT OUR DISPOSAL to ensure that personal spacing was ensured at these said supermarkets.
Make up wunna mind if it’s a crisis or not, then act accordingly to maintain order for all, while ensuring those who can not afford to stockpile 2 weeks of food still have access to it in smaller amounts.
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Curfew or no curfew, many nights I am in bed by 8:00pm sleep 5 or 6 hours, work then sleep till light.
In any given week I spend many days at home from where I work.
The lockdown will probably make me work harder at home.
Hopefully I will lose some weight.
Virus or no virus, life goes on.
I have no problems observing regulations even though I like to know why they exist.
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John and Vincent,
Ask yourselves what could have changed in twelve hours to prompt a sudden and profound increase in action.
They clearly got some information that is very concerning, it is not rocket science.
Forget model, forget the testing, to understand this, important though that is. But just for this, focus on what could turn their approach.
Logically, the important thing would be clinical state of patients or number of patients. What changed?
That is why I am concerned.
Yes, it was clear some of the populace is not adhering to the social distancing, but from the sudden action, I do not think it is that alone.
I would expect some news bulletins to be issued in the next day or two.
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@JohnA
I could add another 50 variables? The outcome of which, at this time, is largely guesswork. All we know with certainty, is that public debt is rising at unprecedented levels across the globe. The printing presses are working overtime. This forces CB’s across the world to force already low rates to zero, possibly below, if the pols think their voters will tolerate it. And to buy government paper at unprecedented levels. Asset values will bounce around. Those on the margin will get squeezed. Cash should be king, but we are so addicted to debt, and dependent upon it, we will see new and unique way to keep credit flowing. I ‘hear’ ABCP is back, you may remember how that ended? -
to say that government are not closing supermarkets is not !00% true.
we have seen caning of people in India for breaking the curfew and that was in the day time.
In the usa there is the federal government, and the local government = state, county and city.
because the federal gover is not doing something does not mean it is not happening at one of the other government level.Barbados would probably be a county, I think
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This strikes me as a panic move, or it was not well thought out how could a Gov’t change its position on Supermarkets in less than 24 hours? if a Gov’t is panicked what are the citizens to do? The village shops can’t handle all the traffic that will result as a result of closing the Supermarkets. First it restricted access to your money, now it is restricting access to food. If the convention about social distance was not being followed in Supermarkets, there is a simple solution as I’ve seen all the Supermarket management has to do is announce that anyone not respecting distance etc. will not be served.
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WW
Now yuh talk.
This is the best time in decades for that revival to start.
I don’t really want or mean for anyone to starve or go hungry for to long. But just for the situation to open up their eyes to at least grow something or the other.
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Just heard that Massy have suspended their online shopping as it can’t be operated with a closed supermarket. They are apparently seeking clarification as we speak.
So much for that plan
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“We either in a crisis or not. If it’s reached the stage of a curfew well then in my books we should of used ALL OF THE MANPOWER AT OUR DISPOSAL to ensure that personal spacing was ensured at these said supermarkets.”
ah told them so but they were TOO BUSY instead using the same manpower and DRONES , to CHASE DOWN WEED…not even cocaine..
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@ac
Ammm the dlp is not the captain of barbados ship so there is nothing wherby to critize the dlp
Why u feeling sad or hurt by my criticism of present govt
Do blame me cause present govt has given enough to be criticised {quote]Spot on!! Before May 2018, you critcized the B’s or those seen to be B’s, in opposition. So you are spot on, u do not even have that option today, for essentially the island has no opposition!!! Sad or hurt? I’m in lockdown, happy as a clam. Not a shite else to do, unless I feel like day trading. Nuff market movement = nuff opportunities. Waiting for a can of paint. Then its off to roller heaven. BBL….cause you know watching paint dry is no fun.
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@ Sargeant
Are you saying we need sound political leadership?
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john A 209
False
there is evidence of community spread – that is what the decision was based on
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@ sarge
You and me and anybody else capable of independent thought would know more in the mortar than the pestle here.
For years we been here talking about enforcement of law, or in our case lack there of. This is just one more example of it. If we got 50 major supermarkets and 500 odd defence force members do the maths. If we wanted to impose personal space and that was the only problem, you don’t feel we could of done it with the above?
Last night all did good on the supermarkets and 8 pm curfew. today just so In less than 12 hours em is a full lock down and all supermarkets close. Wait just so? So yesterday evening wunna didn’t know bout people standing too close? The standing close then only start from this morning then?
Any how it will all come out in time I suppose.
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@ john2
The deputy didn’t say nothing about community spread on my TV and I watch the whole thing. I listen to all of her speech and also when the AG say they had construction going illegally and they were warned and not fined. So much for dealing with offenders firmly.
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I got a suggestion for the PM.
Open the supermarkets on Monday with the defence force there to ensure order and take the temperature of everyone that joins the line as was done at the Airport.
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@John A
The supermarkets met with the acting PM today, why would this matter of online shopping not come up for discussion?
@Sargeant
Cannot please some of you. The government has been criticized for not being firm up to now, yet every time a decision is made to respond to a situation that is fluid there is no support. The government must have been made aware of some recent development which informed today’s briefing?
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crusoe
agreed!
Some just cant read the signs and wanta believe the first thing that jump in their heads
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@John A: “Open the supermarkets on Monday with the defence force there to ensure order and take the temperature of everyone that joins the line as was done at the Airport.
It is well documented that people can be asymptomatic and still be highly contagious.
Further, recent work out of MIT has shown that the two-meter distancing is based on inadequate research from the 1930s. More modern research (including using high-speed cameras) has suggested that eight meters would be more appropriate. Read: two meters is (almost) pointless.
Is it really that difficult to lockdown for a little while? This is an unprecedented situation, and as Italy, England and the US have empirically demonstrated, there is little downside being overly cautious, while potentially huge downside if this isn’t taken seriously.
We’re talking about our very lives here!
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Over zealous policing in Kenya. I pray that we do not witness similar scenes in Barbados.
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john A
because she aint said it don’t mean it aint so.
you claim to be an independent thinker but right now you aint thinking crusoe hit the nail on the head at 428pm.
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@John A April 2, 2020 11:18 AM
Tourism is dead. Kaput. Fini. It’s pushing up daisies. Of course remnants of it will hang about for decades; after all there are still people who make their living rearing horses, but the horse based economy is long gone.Technology means that the post covid economy can still cater to the global market, but our products then should be biased toward intellectual property.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEARLIER IN THE WEEK I MADE SIMILAR PREDICTION BASED ON HOW THE CORONAVIRUS WAS SPREAD VIA AIRPLANE/CRUISE SHIPS WITH NOW TRAVEL BEING DOWN 90% AND HOW THE WORLD HAS BEEN SPOOKED.
THE ALL KNOWING DAVID BU TALKED SHIT ABOUT SPREADING DOOM AND GLOOM.
NOW THAT PLT, JOHN A AND OTHERS LIVING LOCALLY ARE SAYING THE SAME NOT A WORD OF OPPOSITION.
THEY CAN BE NO HONESTY AND INTEGRITY ON THE BLOG UNTIL THE OWNER GETS HIS OWN ACT IN ORDER.
STEUPSE.
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John A
THE DEFENCE HAS NO POLICING POWERS. what can you not understand about that. there cannot arrest anyone for breaking ANY law. Barbados may be under curfew but it is NOT at war or has it turnef into A MILATARY STATE
THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ARE…….THE POLICE.
you need to get a grip and understand what I said above
it is you that is panicking and calling for the wrong moves.
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Well then tell me the whole story don’t tell me in pieces. Also if that was the case why address the people last night and then do an about turn today? All that did is cause suspicion and more panic buying.
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@John A
Why should the government allow itself to be locked into a position/decision if it is managing fluid situation?
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Whoopi back to the good ole days when small shops were Kings and Queens
Nothing even technology can save big business out of the grips of Corona -
Well then tell me the whole story don’t tell me in pieces. Also if that was the case why address the people last night and then do an about turn today? All that did is cause suspicion and more panic buying.
xxxxxxxxxxxand coming out and saying that there is community spread will not cause panic buying??
Crusoe said it… three will be news in a day or two when everything is locked down.
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I would probably make a guess that one or more of the infected , at some point in time was in one of the supermarkets or in the line
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@ David
The approach had no logic to it as you have euthanized the patient instead of removing the bad limb. Follow their logic with me.
We have 45 cases of the virus so we will close the supermarkets for 2 weeks. So let’s say at the end of the 2 weeks you have 100 cases, do you then close them for an additional 3 weeks then?
The outcome of any decision must be supported by logic. If your problem is persons not observing the space then address this matter with enforcement. To try to fix the problem by terminating a service instead of addressing the issue is of no use. They will just go and squeeze up in the shops instead. I never seen a security guard in a shop yet so how you plan to enforce personal space?
As I said the entire logic is flawed and is basically a decision made out of panic.
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For months govt tried to pull the wool over peoples eye
Almost reassuring them that they did not need to stock pile food or necessities
Govt even said that govt supplies were able and ready for three months
Today and last night the truth unfolds and like headless chickens govt turns to media with a hastened plan as if to avoid impeding disaster which is lurking on the horizon
The most vulnerable mostly elderly has to come up with a safe and secure plan to met all their household requirements and medical at moments notice
God help them ( elderly) who are living alone and in need of medical help also in need of basic food supplies
This last minute rushed measures are beyond nerve racking for the elderly with govt adding more fuel to an already explosive situation call Corona
All that is happening now could have been avoided if govt had devise a plan earlier that is centred around the needs of a country and people
Mainly food and medical supplies
Maddening is the optimum word for today turn of events -
@john2
I would probably make a guess that one or more of the infected , at some point in time was in one of the supermarkets or in the line
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The shutdown would be closing the barn after the horse has left, if anyone infected was in a Supermarket the Gov’t should advise anyone who was in that Supermarket at any point when the person was there or at any time after the person had left to present themselves for testing. The testing should also include Supermarket personnel.BTW you wrote you are in Georgia isn’t that where your Governor said he didn’t know the disease could be spread asymptomatically until yesterday?
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Seems that some of the sick are really in a bad way. They have been put on ventilators according to V.O.B 5.30 PM. this may have influenced the change in direction. The authorities are not doing too bad, considering the shortage of equipment. They are a lot of arm chair gurus, who if put in decision making position, would do a lot worst. One must remember most of those in authority are frightened as hell also. could some things have been done better, sure.
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@John A
What if the analysis tossed up that a common point of reference for COVID is the supermarket?
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Sarg.
I don’t have a clue as to what the governor of Georgia said about himself
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5.53 sarg
agreed
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@ Robert
It is always easy when you are not the person in the hot seat. But some thigs are simple: how many ICU beds do we have? How many ventilators? Why can’t the government publish the model it is making decision based on? Are they doing any contact-tracing? How about closing the borders? Are we making any preparations for a coming food shortage?
While you are at it, can someone please tell us if the president is fit and, if so, was she aware of the speech made by Santia last night and did she approve it?
All these are matters of transparency. -
sarg
Agreed with the notification procedure.
I was just guessing
but in a my scenario, you would have to now include all the people that the people in the supermarket came in contact with also., then the other people that those people came into contact with.
in order to slow the spread…… shut the country down.
also
although the horse may have bolted, closing the supermarkets will now prevent a similar case from happening.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.