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Local Microbiologist Calls for Curfew to be Extended to 28 Days

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The following comment was posted by local microbiologist Dr. Robert Lucas to another blog – Bajans Jettison Social Distancing for Cheek by Jowl. The blogmaster regards it as one of the most important points shared on Barbados Underground since the status of COVID 19 was elevated by Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

David, Barbados Underground

Let me repeat what I have stated elsewhere on the Blog.

The curfew has to rigorously enforced. Once this is done, there is no need for contact tracing. I will explain.

Those who manifest symptoms are easily managed. It is person Z who comes into contact with a person (asymptomatic or beginning to show signs) and is unaware of the fact, who poses the immediate threat. By having the curfew and rigidly enforcing it, means that person Z is localized to a fixed area.

There will be more than one person who qualifies for the nomenclature Z. Since the curfew is rigidly enforced when the Zs become ill and use the hotline, hot spots are known. There will be a number of these hot spots. There should be isolated and all persons in the vicinity of the Z’ screened and placed into mandatory quarantine. No crap about voluntary quarantine.

For this method to work, it means that very tough enforcement it needed. None of this crap about human rights and individual liberty. Human rights and so on can be dealt with after the situation is under control…

Elsewhere on the Blog, I said that a twenty-eight day curfew was needed. I explain my reasoning as follows: there would be different viral incubation times for different individuals. Twenty-eight days would appear to be time for all individuals to show manifestations of the infection.

 

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688 responses to “Local Microbiologist Calls for Curfew to be Extended to 28 Days”

  1. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Fowl…ah doing commonsense arguments…not legal arguments THAT ARE NEVER BASED ON COMMONSENSE….ah could train ya in that discipline if ya wish…

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Meat plants are shutting down as workers get sick

    By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN Business
    Updated 1957 GMT (0357 HKT) April 8, 2020

    New York (CNN Business)Across the country, major meat processors are starting to shut down plants as employees are getting infected by coronavirus.

    Tyson (TSN), one of the world’s largest meat processors, suspended operations at its Columbus Junction, Iowa, pork plant this week after more than two dozen workers contracted Covid-19 there. Tyson said it would divert livestock that was headed to Columbus Junction to other pork plants in the region to minimize the impact on its production.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/08/business/meat-plant-closures-coronavirus/index.html

  3. john2 Avatar
    john2

    @John 2
    Do we know if local supermarkets hired additional staff to attempt to respond to increase demand?

    XXXXXXX

    David

    Which country are you referring to?

    No I don’t know for either of the two

  4. john2 Avatar
    john2

    A

    I don’t worry about the panic buying like you do. SOME other countries that kept the supermarkets opened had panic buying also – before lock down.

    we had a 0 new cases yesterday. I know it may be wishful thinking but I would like to see that continue to day, tomorrow, the next day…….. for the next week/2/3/4. when government finally throw the door open and we had 0 for a period of time , 0 in self quarantine and very few in isolation (and soon coming out) you and the whole island can have all the panic buying you want . you can come on BU and shout every day “I told you so” that would fine with me

  5. David Avatar
    David

    This would be Barbados. To John A’s point the logistics should have factored an increase in short term demand.

  6. john2 Avatar
    john2

    BAJE

    plain and simple – you can kiss my donkey!

    I have not done anything that you haven’t done a few times in the pass. – google info and present it on BU to try to prove your point ( mariposa point)

    only difference is I paid detention to detail and provided the relevant facts instead of reading over what other wrote and providing shite like you did .

  7. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    From speaking directly to a manager at one of the places the problem was clearly logistics.

    They had 4 lines open and staff to man the lines, but the problem was the volume of calls to the 4 lines. So let’s say it took 3 minutes a call that meant only 12 orders could be taken in 3 minutes. The orders then had to be passed to the pickers and packers. Also the email orders that came in suffered the same fate.

    So let’s say you have 500 orders hitting your server, the staff can only open and print what the pickers and packers can handle at a time. That is why on Facebook at 12 noon yesterday some supermarkets closed their order taking system. They realised in order to just deal with the orders they took in 4 hours, would in fact take them 4 days to pack and prepare.

    So all this did now is to frustrate the public more. On Tuesday therefore when the supermarkets open look for more panic shopping and chaos again.

  8. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    More protective clothing and HEAD COVERS…are needed for workers, the females need to stop trying to model their fake and chemical hair in a pandemic, HEADTIES gloves and scarfs are REQUIRED by everyone, everywhere…..every inch of you should be COVERED…when out and about and particularly when working around food etc…

    I don’t think ENUFF…. people understand what is a PANDEMIC…

  9. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    This is what the leaders should be more concerned about instead of the negative go nowhere plantation minded crap they are on….the fowl is fussy Enuff this morning..

    https://www.facebook.com/OccupyDemocrats/videos/2557048021176570/?t=4

  10. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    In my above I made a mistake where I said only 12 orders could be taken in 3 minutes that should of read only 4 orders could be taken in 3 minutes as they were only 4 staff members and 4 phone lines with each order taking 3 minutes to take.

  11. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    Your point is taken and is valid. We accept there will be increase demand in the prevailing situation, when the supermarkets discussed with government about executing orders they should have discussed creating an agreed capacity. Also the blogmaster would have entertained pensioners and people over 60 on the first day. The supermarkets should have been allowed to hire 50 or 60 part-timers to support this operation.

  12. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    If anyone starves to death on the island because of backward, commonsense lacking leaders and dimwitted fowls, i will have a field day…watch muh nuh…

  13. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Imagine a government has multimillion dollar TAXPAYER PAID consultants and this czar and that tar and a WHOLE load of pure SHITE…including themselves, every one of them SUCKING ON TAXPAYERS…who need that money now more than ever before and not ONE OF THEM can do BASIC MATH…..creating another COCKUP..

    STEUPPPPPPSSSSS…

  14. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    Yes more manpower and at least 12 cell phones along with the 4 land lines. Also they should have limited each order to no more than 20 separate items.

    Even doing all that though they still couldn’t of handled the load. How many people you think last Friday didn’t get into a supermarket? Quite a lot I would imagine. So they would have been on the phones first one would imagine. Now to that we add the panic shoppers and those who just can’t afford to stock up and hence would of bought a few days food and now need to replenish. There is no way under such conditions of load that call in shopping could of worked.

    Now what will frustrate the situation more is when people call in today and get a recording that the online system is closed due to load. We also didn’t factor in the Easter weekend load either. Families with kids home will want to do some little thing for them even if it is at home.

    All I will say is God help the supermarkets next week cause it is then you going see lines and load! To me it is annoying when it all could of been avoided.

  15. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    This is where the private sector could assist by allocating resources in established call centres example FLOW and DIGICEL.

  16. Lorenzo Avatar
    Lorenzo

    John a you along with baje and a few others that BARBADOS WAS THE ONLY COUNTRY TO SHUT IT,S SUPERMARKETS as a fact.John 2 has proved you and the others to BE LIARS.therefore wa
    hat do you do rather than apologise for misleading the blog both of you try to switch the argument,instead of you all haste to be critical for cheap political purposes it is better to double check your facts first.

  17. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    OK…let’s change the narrative to please the dimwitted FOWLS…

    Barbados is the only island with fools for leaders who shut down their supermarkets, those one or two countries who tried that and it FAILED…has learned the errors of their ways and REOPENED the supermarkets to SAVE THEIR PEOPLE’S LIVES…

    hope the dimwits are pleased now…

  18. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    You want my honest opinion of why the private sector went along with this idea? They had nothing to lose by doing it and they scored a few political points in the process.

    Let’s be honest and admit the supermarkets have recorded record sales over the last month with the confusion and panic shopping. This Friday the supermarkets closed, was also one of the largest single retail days many of them recorded. They are not losing anything with this closure either, as they know when ever the doors reopen the crowds will return in mass. After all with all the changes from government and confusion that has resulted, the chaos is guaranteed and hence so will be the mass shopping. Plus to the normal load you have all those to add that did not get in the supermarket Friday.

    Also supermarkets are reporting no one is buying the pre packed baskets either as they are not willing to pay for things they don’t want in the baskets. So we back to the call in load.

  19. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    If this is the attitude of the private sector then most disappointing.

  20. Baje Avatar
    Baje

    OK…let’s change the narrative to please the dimwitted FOWLS…

    Barbados is the only island with fools for leaders who shut down their supermarkets, those one or two countries who tried that and it FAILED…has learned the errors of their ways and REOPENED the supermarkets to SAVE THEIR PEOPLE’S LIVES…

    hope the dimwits are pleased now…

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    @ Waru

    THEY ARE WAY TOO STUPID AND CORRUPT MENTALLY TO UNDERSTAND THE ABOVE.

    DESPITE THEIR BULLSHIT WAFFLE EVEN BLIND MEN CAN SEE THROUGH THEIR ATTEMPTS TO DEFLECT DICTATORSHIP AND INCOMPETENT DECISION MAKING

  21. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Just saw a mother in the US of A howling in pain so hard that she made me cry. Her 27 yr old daughter who suffered from cerebral palsy was a supermarket worker. She went to work every day because she said the store was understaffed and there was no-one to help the elderly. The workers were given no protective gear. She undertook that task. She is now dead. She was given that drug the Orange Turd has been promoting but it was too late. She collapsed in the car park of the medical facility.

    Her mother showed her paycheck. $20.64 for doing what her employers called “an excellent job”.

    I guess that is how they do it in the developed world.

    PS. For $20.64 guess the race of the dead woman. For a bonus of $20.64 estimate the number of seniors she would have infected whilst trying to do good without so much as a mask.

  22. john2 Avatar
    john2

    WW

    that’s false. the went the course

    Read more before you type

    Baje

    you cant think for yourself? always piggy backing on someone else comment?

  23. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Baje…leave them with their plantation slave mentality…they are the only ones think so highly of themselves, fowls don’t count, they are an embarrassment..

    Donna…employers ARE NOT providing enough protective clothing for workers, not even hospitals, everyone is complaining…and HEADS MUST BE COVERED, hair is a transporter of the disease, we knew this from VERY EARLY when China had their outbreak, don’t know why after so many months it is still being ignored….this is not the time to model silky hair and fake weave and chemical hair …they are all loaded with disease…

    some people i know have taken to shampooing their hair…whenever they return from outside for whatever reason, this cannot be taken seriously enuff.

    John Fowl Too…ah told ya no one pays much attention to you….fowls do not make much of a mark or impact anywhere, never have never will..

  24. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Supermarket Employees who have contracted the virus and died families are suing the supermarkets for not providing or following safety procedures for their loved ones

  25. john2 Avatar
    john2

    WW

    Well spoken and straight from experience. understood.
    By the way in your case it not only fowls but also fools.

  26. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    As was suspected from Day 1…the plague has the ability to mutate like yardfowls and adapt to any condition to survive…

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8204255/There-THREE-separate-types-coronavirus.html

    “There are three main types of the novel coronavirus infecting people, and the strains may be mutating to conquer the immune systems of populations around the world.

    The genetic history of the coronavirus was mapped from December 24 to March 4, revealing three distinct, but closely related, variants.

    Researchers from the University of Cambridge found the virus now seen in Wuhan, China and East Asia — ground-zero for the outbreak — is not the original variety.

    Instead, this strain (known as type B) is derived from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus which jumped into humans from bats via pangolins (type A). “

  27. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ WURA-War-on-U April 9, 2020 10:26 AM
    “ and HEADS MUST BE COVERED, hair is a transporter of the disease, we knew this from VERY EARLY when China had their outbreak, don’t know why after so many months it is still being ignored….this is not the time to model silky hair and fake weave and chemical hair …they are all loaded with disease…”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    That’s a rather valid concern which the Covid-19 prevention task force ought to take into serious and immediate consideration.

    Why are black women, many at coalface of caring for the sick and elderly, still wearing so many unhygienic unwashed mock hairpieces on their heads especially in hot countries like Barbados?

    Why are they so ashamed of their natural functional hair which their God has placed on their scalps for biologically-sound and environmental reasons?

    Not only is it most unbecoming, hygienically speaking, but also a massive waste of foreign exchange which the country can ill afford in this time of economic Armageddon. Forex which will soon be needed to buy medicines, seeds and other vital agricultural inputs.

    Let them wear their hair hats made from Bajan black belly sheepskin instead of that from unhygienic dead people hair harvested from the victims of Covid and just awaiting shipment to stupid black buyers.

  28. John2 Avatar
    John2

    What %age of the private sector does the supermarket represent?

  29. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    These two countries are swearing their border closing saved them from wide spread outbreak, problem is, the disease don’t just go away and is unpredictable, they managed to slow it down significantly anyway..

    “New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern says her country is winning the battle against coronavirus after just 29 new cases were added to the tally today.

    Australia and New Zealand have both seen falling infection rates after closing their borders by March 20 – something Britain has still not done.

    Ardern hailed New Zealanders for mounting a ‘wall of defence’ which is ‘breaking the chain of transmission’ after the country moved quickly to impose a lockdown.

    The PM said the country was already ‘turning a corner’ just six weeks after the epidemic reached New Zealand, which has only 992 confirmed cases and one death so far.

    Lockdown measures could be softened in just over a week, Ardern said, opening the door for some people to return to work if their employers can ensure social distancing.

    The figure of 29 confirmed or probable infections in the last 24 hours marks a fourth straight day of decline, in the latest sign of a flattening curve.

    New Zealand only confirmed its first case on February 26, but had shut its borders by March 19 and started imposing a full-scale lockdown on March 26.

    Australia has also squashed the curve, with both countries carrying out more widespread tests than Britain or the United States”

  30. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Why are they so ashamed of their natural functional hair which their God has placed on their scalps for biologically-sound and environmental reasons?”

    social engineering, it’s very ugly in Black countries, islands and communities, just imagine how that plague survives in all that fakeness, including the fake eyelashes, then merrily jumps from person to person…a lot of them will be buried…..that one is called self-culling.

    just imagine from Asia to India and other jurisdications where the greedy will just cut the long hair off dead covid victims and sell it to be transported to stores worldwide, and the fools will buy it too.

  31. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Not having adequate PROTECTIVE CLOTHING…from hospitals to supermarkets and everywhere else, is what is causing all these deaths…your whole body must be protected, it is a PLAGUE……doctors and everyone else have been begging for more protective gear, they still are….lack of body protection will continue to kill workers as long as the leaders continue to ignore it..

    “Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, pictured, wrote to the Prime Minister just three weeks ago, asking him to ‘urgently’ ensure PPE was available for ‘each and every NHS worker in the UK’. His family have urged others to ‘please keep my brother in your prayers’ after the consultant urologist, known as Faisal, died at 1am this morning at Queens Hospital in Romford.”

  32. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Govt measures
    Post office

    https://www.facebook.com/705807239/posts/10158621388802240/

  33. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Stop cutting and pasting nonsense. It can be very boring.

  34. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Hal…just scroll past, the amount of useless shite people post on BU with no substance and in the midst of A PLAGUE they are unable to give us the information we need to UNDERSTAND OUR CURRENT EXPERIENCE since we do not know HOW LONG it is going to last…..

    so sit the hell down and shut the hell up, i prefer this than you and ya BU mates bickering all day…

    plus we don’t want the know it alls and the mutating yardfowls filling up the blog with the useless shite coming out of the numb minds of the fake leaders…

    we know who RESEARCHES everything and gives valid information from real scientists…OK.

  35. David Avatar
    David

    https://youtu.be/W9t2MipUXLU

  36. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Sounds promising, let’s hope they learned a few things. Learning never hurt anyone.

  37. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    The virus will be dead long before the hair gets to Barbados. Also natural hair is the predominant style here currently. I have observed that for many months, probably more than that. One of my son’s friends was admiring my hair and expressing a longing to go natural. The hard part is when the hair is growing out while the ends are chemically processed. One must be prepared to look less than one’s best for a while or cut the hair really short.

    Have you folks run out of valid complaints??????

  38. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    Cognisant of the dishonesty that thrives on BU, I decided to do some digging into the closure and re-opening of supermarkets in Mauritius. Barbados recorded its first COVID case on 17 March; the first 3 cases were announced a day later in Mauritius. Mauritius subsequently closed its borders for 14 days from the 19 and 22 March for foreigners and nationals respectively. The ban remains in place for non-nationals. Barbados’ current stats are: 63 positive tests; 8 recovered; and 3 deaths. In Mauritius: 314; 23 and 7. All retail shops, bakeries etc were closed for 10 days in Mauritius. They re-opened and a staggered system based on surnames has been introduced, with a 30-minute time limit, set routes through the aisles with turning back prohibited, temp checks and masks. The first day of re-opening was reported as chaotic, with persons waiting 4hrs in the queue. In Barbados, village shops, bakeries, fish markets, farms etc were not closed and when the announcement was made the government said an alternative to in-store was coming. It came 5 days later. Given the clear differences highlighted above, Mauritius can’t be cited as a reason why in-store supermarket shopping should not be banned. Instead of copying and pasting, and cherry picking (for example it is known that overseas the shopping slots for the elderly have been chaotic and problematic in store and online), maybe we can be useful. Ask ,why the numbers in Mauritius climbed even after closing the borders and closing supermarkets? Did closing contained spread? Is keeping supermarkets open in countries contributing to increased infections?

  39. Lorenzo Avatar
    Lorenzo

    Enuff excellent analysis i wait to hear the non medical armchair experts who cherry pick while copy and pasting to mislead the blog for political purposes.Let, s hear John A, Bsjr, Waru who is yet to reproduce anything i said about cruise ships or of closing of borders earlier a damn liar or any of the other experts.

  40. John A Avatar
    John A

    So let me see if I understand the logic.

    We extended the hours at the post office so the old people can cash their pension cheques, but then we close the supermarkets so they can’t buy food.

    Now that the supermarkets have come out and confirmed they can’t handle the volume as per the midday news, along with many on brasstacks confirming this as their experience, what plans are in place now to do what is the common sense thing and reopen the supermarkets?

    We tried using the small shops as an alternative and they ran out of food in hours hence worsening the situation.

    We went to try and pack baskets which nobody wanted and combined this with call in and online shopping. No one studied the logistics so that failed too. Hence again frustrating shoppers and worsening the situation.

    Remember the longer this goes on the greater the rush and chaos will be when they are eventually opened. Every single failed attempt and nonsensical idea, goes to make the fear in shoppers worst. What we have created here is an artificial unavailability of access to food, which is as bad as opening the supermarkets and having nothing to sell. Either way the end result is the same, in that the customer leaves empty handed.

    At what point will our leaders swallow their pride and admit what they have tried is not working and implement the obvious and only solution?

    Open the supermarkets and impose personal space using the police and defence force and shop by the surname in alphabetical order. Set the day and the relevant letters allowing unobstructed access for 30 minutes to people twice a week based on their ID card.

    So for example A to E will shop Monday between 8 and 12 and Thursday between 12 to 4. G to J will shop Monday afternoon between 12 to 4 and Thursday morning between 8 and 12pm etc etc .

    Wuhloss it ain’t rocket science em is just basic common sense. If wunna can’t do the schedule I would type it and send wunna free of cost.

  41. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “We extended the hours at the post office so the old people can cash their pension cheques, but then we close the supermarkets so they can’t buy food.”

    but am the idiot….

    .check out the mutating fowls…

  42. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Have you folks run out of valid complaints??????”

    they keep giving them to us.

    they are lucky we SPOTTED THE COCKUP on Day 1….so them and the supermarket can make better arrangements, unless they want everything to descend into more chaos.

    Both you and them are welcome.

  43. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    The situation is fluid. Changes will be made as necessary. I see some difficulties as are to be expected at such a time as this. The only cock up was the closure within just a few hours. Should have been closed with immediate effect.

    The problem with the supermarket seems in part to be that people are showing up with lists and the supermarket is attempting to accommodate them. Bajans trying a ting, as usual.

    The problem at the post offices seems to be, in part, that persons are showing up who should not be there as their names are not in the A to H category. Bajans trying a ting, as usual.

  44. John2 Avatar
    John2

    John a

    Isnt your silution evolving?

    At first it was open the supermarket and use the defence force

    Now today i see you adding in some of what other suggested

  45. John2 Avatar
    John2

    8 more to go (At least)
    No one desd as yet and there is anattrmpt to getfood to the population incase there is an extension

  46. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    66

  47. John2 Avatar
    John2

    8 days

    Thank for the update
    I was just going to ask

  48. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    This is one of the best opportunities i have seen in decades for positive things to happen to AND FOR the majority population on the island….time to break those bands of shite the leaders continue to wrap around and keep the people stagnated….

    nothing lasts forever..

  49. Dame Bajans Avatar
    Dame Bajans

    Just watched Santia Bradshaw. Nice, short and to the point. No hand waving and no going off on tangents. She looks well, I hope she continues in good health. Like her dress, my colours.

    Thanks for the link, David.

  50. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    This article should give a lot of people pause. There was an article weeks ago where the virus was also found in Dutch waste water.

    https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-traces-massachusetts-wastewater-levels-higher-expected-1497141?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0V2JqtQA7N2GDIve4gwxtDnp6bzlbIcksFZPdkNHzux_oDy3MjeiEA3Ig#Echobox=1586453630

    “Researchers screening wastewater in Massachusetts for the novel coronavirus found more traces of the pathogen than expected given the number of confirmed cases in the area.

    Wastewater analysis of this kind has previously been used by scientists to track infectious diseases, as well as the use of drugs and other substances in a given population. Now, several research groups around the world have started using this method to look for the novel coronavirus as a way to estimate how many people are infected in a community.

    Researchers hope that these kinds of techniques could complement traditional testing, which has been severely lacking in many parts of the world.”

    READ MORE

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