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Recent COVID 19 Dashboards reflect a global picture, one of rising infections caused mainly by the Delta variant. Unfortunately because Barbados does not exist in a fishbowl, our tiny island is being ravaged by the the coronavirus. Given the perilous state of the economy before the pandemic struck, Barbadians should expect a period of economic hardship for the next many years, ten, twenty …it is left to be seen. We will probably be told differently very soon with 2023 rapidly approaching.

It is regrettable the one advantage our island has compared to larger countries we continue to squander. Come together, agree to a way forward , inspire residents to rally behind a sensible plan AND EXECUTE. Instead we see the same old, political opportunism, high class ignorance and panic.

Covid 19 Dashboard 1/9/2021

The blogmaster is hopeful this blog can be used to record constructive suggestions to help onlookers negotiate the ongoing Covid 19 challenge, now and in the long-term. To repeat – the blogmaster is hopeful.

One thing is for certain, it is going to be a bleak Christmas.


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439 responses to “Barbados: in the Grip of a Pandemic”


  1. Five cases of mu Covid variant detected in St. Vincent.


  2. @Hants
    Was there a lot of damage to houses in St.Lucy ?
    +++++++++++++
    What kind of question is that? Are you suggesting that the reassignment of the Honourable member to the Housing Ministry could be politics at play?

    Ten lashes with a limp noodle for you, but if Verla is such a lightweight why is the BLP prepping the Member for St. Lucy for the many photo-ops that will surely arise from the Office of the Ministry of Housing.


  3. Operation Radication

    What about eradicating Trolls on BU like Covid
    Kill Them Dead Before They Spread


  4. Overkill!


  5. Mia strikes back at the Dlp call for a pause in effort to slow down the spread of COVID
    However avoiding not to make mention or take to task BAMP who earlier called on govt for a similar intervention
    Earlier in the year when numbers where much lower Mottley told the nation that a lockdown was the better option since she was not prepared to put the economy before the health of the people
    Now that the cases seems to be spiraling out of control Mia puts the economy before the health of the people
    In the long run govt might find that with all the vaccine given and as the virus mutates the health of the nation would be the biggest loser while the economy struggles on a downward path to find a way out


  6. Scratch selection for all the Walkers and Talkers

    Rude Walking

    Words of advice to the wise about the plethora of Conspiracies and Theories on the net which are figments of the mind just fantasies and imagination of the sick

    Prove It


  7. Vice president of the dlp Andre Worrell speaks

    https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10158103072276123&id=631051122


  8. Not with 2023 around the corner.

    PM tells DLP: Join fight against Covid
    PRIME MINISTER MIA MOTTLEY has told the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) to put up or stand down with the calls for stricter protocols to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
    In a press release, the Prime Minister said it was nauseating to hear people politicking about COVID-19 when front-line workers were overwhelmed and the behavioural patterns of many Barbadians “left much to be desired”.
    “I heard the leadership of the Democratic Labour Party today calling for tougher measures. The clear implication is that they would like us to go back into lockdown. My question is, where is the scientific basis for this call at this time?” she queried.
    The DLP’s vice president and spokesperson for health, water and sanitation, Andre Worrell, said with 101 COVID-19 positive cases in one day, and 546 people in isolation, the public ought to know whether the outbreak was due to community spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. The DLP, he said, recognised that managing the crisis meant ensuring that the healthcare sector is not overwhelmed.
    “It may be time for the Prime Minister to make the decision, just as she did on January 29, 2021, when she declared that she was not willing to sacrifice Barbadian lives to stabalise the economy, and we should pause for a cause.
    “The country needs a heart-to-heart conversation with the Ministry of Health. Once again, it is necessary to take Barbadians into your confidence and thoroughly explain the figures in the daily dashboard so that the gravity of the situation hits home for the entire country,” he said.
    Tested and proven weapon
    But the Prime Minister noted last year’s lockdown was one of the only options available.
    “Today, we have a tested and proven weapon in the form of the COVID-19 vaccine that too many Barbadians are reluctant or refusing to take. We have people wearing masks as they would necklaces, and no matter how much we plead, they are still bunching up in shops and workplaces, as if social distancing is no longer a consideration,” she stated.
    Mottley added more than 117 000 residents had taken the vaccine, with approximately 43 per cent of the population having had at least one dose, and Government had spent in excess of $48 million to manage the threat of the virus.
    Meantime, Worrell said if the Government wished to have greater compliance, it should teach Barbadians to interpret the data
    from the “science” they were following.
    But Mottley said the DLP would be better off joining in the struggle to get more Barbadians vaccinated.
    “Locking the country down is and will not be the first, second or third option of this Barbados Labour Party Government. I want to make that very clear. We do not take the matter of shutting this country down lightly. This is not the knee-jerk manner in which we govern.
    “If my ministers and I have to take to the streets of Barbados and go door-to-door to get Barbadians fully sensitised of the need to protect themselves against the spread of COVID, particularly with the prevalence of the Delta variant, then that is what we shall do,” she said.
    ‘Will take another 46 days’
    Worrell said the DLP believed increased vaccinations would reduce the spread of the virus and improve outcomes, but the vaccination rate was dependent on the availability of vaccines and the speed at which healthcare professionals got them to willing people.
    “Currently, 35.6 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated and we are vaccinating on average 1 275 persons a day. At this rate it will take another 46 days to vaccinate ten per cent of the population. This still does not put us close to herd immunity. It may be best to control the things we can and take a pause before the Delta variant causes us to crash,” he said. ( RA/PR)

    Source: Nation


  9. @ David September 8, 2021 8:44 AM

    Our Supreme Leader is absolutely right.

    I would even put it more sharply: In August, the treasonous opposition supported the anti-vaccination riots in the inner city through statements of sympathy, thus creating a super-spreader event. Now the opposition is crying for a new lockdown.

    It is totally immoral that those who caused the Delta outbreak now want to destroy the economy with a new lockdown and plunge the black masses into unemployment and grinding poverty. Wouldn’t it be much more logical to lock up the opposition for violating the Corona emergency legislation?

    We must also challenge the unfortunate role of the BAMP president who is acting without regard to the unemployment rate and the economy. She should disclose immediately if she has ever voted for the DLP or any other treacherous opposition party.


  10. The only thing that needs to be shut down may be one or more public water supply wells.

    Imagine if this fixes it?

    Man Barbados would get its name on the map in lights!!


  11. Hope Mia understands the ramifications of her decision
    Some states in the USA continue to lean towards protecting the economy having open borders and a vaccinated program policy
    Meanwhile those states like Fla numbers grew and the health care system became overwhelmed


  12. Unfortunately Barbados does not have the financial capabilities or medical facilities to handle a task of the large number of cases
    Then what?


  13. Service your body if you want it to function.
    Exercise and build up your structure.
    Go to sea and learn how to swim.
    If you can’t afford a gym.

    Buy a piece of rope!
    Buy a skipping rope!
    Exercise if you love your system!
    Service your body!
    Eat the right food!


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YbtZQx6PEE


  14. The ULTIMATE Beginner’s Guide To Qigong Practice 🧘

    8 Trigram Organ Qigong


  15. @ angela cox September 8, 2021 10:10 AM

    First of all, we should ban superspreader events like the revolt in early August and opposition parties that undermine the government vaccination campaign. Then we will have no more Corona outbreak.

    Our government should charge all the anti-vaccinationists who demonstrated without masks at the beginning of August with manslaughter. The violent mob must finally learn that you cannot simply infect other people and end up killing them. There must be harsh consequences!


  16. TronSeptember 8, 2021 12:03 PM

    @ angela cox September 8, 2021 10:10 AM

    Our government should charge all the anti-vaccinationists who demonstrated without masks at the beginning of August with manslaughter. The violent mob must finally learn that you cannot simply infect other people and end up killing them. There must be harsh consequences!

    Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Then govt can open up the old Glendairy prison and warehouse them and you help foot the costv


  17. @angela coxSeptember 8, 2021 1:02 PM

    Penal labour in the agriculture sector will even make a profit!


  18. I observe with great concern that the vaccination campaign is no longer making any substantial progress in Barbados. Obviously, the opposition has unsettled the population too much.

    Our government must finally crack down the opposition, which goes hand in hand with radical anti-vaccinationists. The anti-vacc-riots in August 2021 and the opposition’s support will forever remain in our memory as a national disgrace.

    More and more countries are moving to the so-called “gold standard” in public life: Only vaccinated or recovered persons are allowed to participate in public life. Non-vaccinated people are only allowed to go to prison or to the grave. So instead of imposing a new collective lockdown, our government should target those unwilling to be vaccinated. We have enough space for them on the many abandoned plantations … 🙂


  19. TronSeptember 8, 2021 7:01 PM

    I observe with great concern that the vaccination campaign is no longer making any substantial progress in Barbados. Obviously, the opposition has unsettled the population too much.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    It is quite obvious that anyone with any sense knows by now the only vaccine that works and stops the spread of the virus is the Chinese one.

    Just look at how well it has suppressed the cases in China.

    Even from before it was rolled out!!

    Sorry, that was the water.

    The only people who know what they are doing are the Chinese!!

    https://imgur.com/Q5liC50


  20. The Chinese vaccine is a proper vaccine, it stops the spread of the virus dead in its tracks.

    Pfizer, Astra Zeneca etc are bare boo.


  21. Absolute no breakthrough infections with the Chinese vaccine and even though only (??) 889 million people have been vaccinated and the plan is to get to 80 % by the end of the year the virus is running scared of the vaccine and not even infecting the unvaccinated!!

    Clearly the Chinese must be doing something else!!!!

    Most people credit the Chinese with having engineered it so naturally, their success in controlling it is unparalleled.

    You think they foolish?


  22. 2 billion doses … not bad.

    Not a single break through infection.

    That is what I call a proper vaccine.

    You see why it is sometimes good to wait and see!!


  23. September 8, 2021, 1373 tests done, 87 new cases including 17 children. Positivity rate 6.33%
    September 7, 2021, 1303 tests done, 69 new cases including 20 children. Positivity rate 5.29%
    September 6, 2021, 1118 tests done, 68 new cases including 7 children. Positivity rate 6.08%
    September 5, 2021, 2827 tests done, 101 new cases including 26 children. Positivity rate 3.57%
    September 4, 2021, 2139 tests done, 65 new cases including 15 children. Positivity rate 3.03%.
    September 3, 2021, 1557 tests done, 31 new cases including 6 children. Positivity rate 1.99%.
    September 2, 2021, 2544 tests done, 80 new cases, including 15 children. Positivity rate 3.14%.
    September 1, 2021, 1665 tests done, 40 new cases including 11 children. 1 death. Positivity rate 2.40%.

    607 people are in isolation.


  24. “More than 80 countries are using China’s Covid vaccines, including many in Asia, among them Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

    However, some countries that opted for the Chinese jabs have high vaccination rates, and are still seeing a surge in infection numbers.

    For instance, Chile re-imposed a curfew and brought back restrictions on travelling in response to the Delta variant, which is more transmissible than previous variants.

    More than 70% of Chileans are fully vaccinated, most with the Sinovac vaccine.

    The Seychelles and Mongolia, meanwhile, have recently recorded some of the highest increase in cases per capita, despite their small populations.

    Thailand changes vaccination policy as cases spike
    Covid map: Where are cases the highest?
    Both are relying heavily on Sinopharm and their vaccination programmes are advanced: 68% of adults are fully vaccinated in the Seychelles and 55% in Mongolia.

    Thailand has changed its vaccine policy to mix China’s Sinovac with the AstraZeneca vaccine in a bid to boost protection after hundreds of medical workers caught Covid despite being fully vaccinated with Sinovac.

    Meanwhile in Indonesia, the main doctors and nurses’ association said at least 30 healthcare workers died despite receiving two doses of the Sinovac vaccine.

    The country is now planning to switch to different Covid-19 vaccines for second doses or administer booster shots to increase efficacy”


  25. So Grasshopper

    If there are no breakthrough infections in China and the unvaccinated are not getting infected, herd immunity has already been reached or the Chinese are doing something else the world is not seeing.

    You would agree, no?


  26. Personally, I think they are laughing their heads off at just how stupid the rest of the world is!!


  27. Meanwhile here in Barbados

    Apparently , these are the Covid hot spots…..on the island:

    St. George
    Constant
    Valley View
    Glebe
    Lower Estate
    St. Michael
    Black Rock
    Brittons Hill
    Christ Church
    Kingsland
    Silver Hill
    St. James
    Husbands
    St. Andrew
    Hillaby
    St. Lucy
    Cave Hill Drive


  28. Would be interesting to look at their elevations above sea level just to see which ones are below 200 feet!!


  29. Obviously not Hillaby St. Andrew!!

    But, Castle Grant Reservoir and Sweet Vale are involved in its water supply.


  30. @John

    We get it.

    We understand your unscientific view.

    We get it.


  31. Moe pushing for remote sessions

    GOVERNMENT SENATOR Lucille Moe returned to the Senate yesterday after an eight-month absence, calling for a change in Senate conditions that would allow senators to participate in sittings remotely.
    In her presentation during debate on a bill to vest the lands of Glendairy Prison in the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc for tourism development, Moe complained about having to be physically present in the room at the Worthing Corporate Centre – temporary location for meetings of the Senate – in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Her appearance at the sitting came three weeks after Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn questioned the repeated submission of excuses for Moe’s absence from the Senate, and his insistence to Senate president Reginald Farley that Moe’s seat “must be declared vacant in accordance with the Constitution of Barbados.”
    Moe was removed as Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Public Affairs in July 2020 when Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley reshuffled her Cabinet. Yesterday was Moe’s first appearance in the Senate since December of last year.
    She argued that according to the protocols instituted by the medical authorities, the environment in the Senate chamber was not conducive to the kind of social interaction demanded by in-person attendance at sittings.
    “One would hope that here in this Chamber, Mr President that we would adhere to what we have been preaching to the general public,” Moe said. She suggested technology should be employed for Senate meetings, especially since the Worthing Corporate Centre was suitably equipped.
    She pointed out Government and the private sector had been using technology “because of the circumstances of COVID-19 in order to be able to transact the business of their companies…in order to protect individuals.”
    Moe also observed that people were being allowed to work from home “so that we are not bringing large groups of people together especially with a deadly virus that has claimed the lives of many Barbadians and many people worldwide.”
    “So Mr President, as much as I agree with this vesting of this property, I am still not sure why we are all here in this
    environment today and with people taking off their mask to speak. I am not aware that this is the science.”
    She said: “The Parliament of Barbados uses the technology for elected members to be able to participate in the House so that all of the elected members don’t have to come together in the same room and space in order to conduct the business of the people. But not so for the Senate.”
    She also complained “no amendment has been made to allow us as people to be able to conduct our business unless we come here in person…for this to happen.”
    “Some people are saying the reason why Senators must come in person and not elected members is because Senators only make $1479.07 a month… There are chairmen of boards that make more than that but they are not being asked to come here in this particular environment,” Moe contended. (GC)

    Source: Nation


  32. Cummins lists ‘gloomy’ tourist arrival numbers

    BARBADOS RECORDED less than 1 000 visitor arrivals to the island during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    This was revealed by Minister of Tourism and International Transport Senator Lisa Cummins yesterday as she spoke in the Upper House about plans to make the Glendariy Prison a tourist attraction.
    Delivering the wrap-up of the Resolution Crown Lands (Vesting
    and Disposal Act 225) Station Hill, St Michael, which was passed, Senator Cummins listed the gloomy tourist arrival numbers.
    She pointed out that in September 2019 Barbados recorded 60 000 visitor arrivals compared to this month where it has recorded 20 000.
    In addition, she said for the months of May, June and July 2019, on average there were 50 000 visitor arrivals.
    For this year she noted: “In Barbados we went to 7 000 and the highest per month we have reached is 10 000. The only thing that makes those numbers look more palatable is if we look at 2020,” she said, as she pointed out that for the corresponding period in that year the numbers were in the vicinity of 3 000 and 2 000 “but it even went as low to
    under 1 000.”
    “This is the reality – there are thousands of Barbadians, 22 000 who are indirectly employed in the tourism sector who are depending on us to get those numbers up – who want to get back to work,” she told the Senate.
    In terms of Glendairy Prison she stressed that it could be converted “into what it can be”.
    She expressed confidence that Barbados would get out of the pandemic but stressed the importance of vaccination, wearing masks and social distancing. (MB)

    Source: Nation


  33. New testing labs on way
    IN THE MIDST of a barrage of visitors’ complaints about long waits for COVID-19 results, Barbados will soon have three more laboratories for COVID-19 testing to relieve the overloaded Best-dos Santos Laboratory.
    Barbados is experiencing a surge in cases, some attributed to the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus that has a record breaking 607 people in isolation. An overwhelming number of people have been rushing to get tested and some of them, especially visitors, are complaining about not receiving their results in the promised 24 to 48 hours.
    Chief executive officer of the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA) Senator Rudy Grant yesterday disclosed there were plans to establish another private lab in addition to the already operational Crane Hotel lab, while a lab was also due to be opened at the Bay View Hospital in about two weeks.
    The situation had led to a call for testing to be relocated from the Grantley Adams International Airport, as chairman of the BHTA, Geoffrey Roach, said yesterday the organisation had received several complaints about the issue from member hotels.
    “What we have asked for is a review of the process because we believe that the process has failed in some areas…but we believe it can be enhanced,” Roach told BHTA members in a virtual meeting.
    In his quarterly report, Grant said meetings on this and other issues had been held with the Minister of Tourism and International Transport Senator Lisa Cummins and recommendations had been made to have the testing process relocated from the airport.
    “We have been working throughout the weekend in order to try to deal with some of those issues and the recommendation is to look at moving the testing out of the airport. There has been discussion about facilitating testing at hotels.”
    One BHTA hotelier at yesterday’s meeting complained about Canadian guests being forced to miss their flight and remain in Barbados several days after failing to receive test results in time.
    The BHTA chairman said
    it was important that the challenges visitors were experiencing be addressed as it held implications for Barbados’ image as a tourism destination trying to rebound. Visitors have been posting on various social media platforms about the long wait stopping them from jumping into their vacation activities or forcing them to delay their departure from the island.
    Earlier this week Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George indicated pressure was being placed on testing centres by a crush of employees from businesses in which there were reports of positive COVID-19 tests. This, said George, was thwarting the efforts of the Best-dos Santos Laboratory to return results within the promised maximum 48 hours. ( GC)

    Source: Nation


  34. @ John September 9, 2021 4:48 AM
    (Quote):
    If there are no breakthrough infections in China and the unvaccinated are not getting infected, herd immunity has already been reached or the Chinese are doing something else the world is not seeing.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Johnny Divine, the paling weathercock, why this volte-face ‘about’ China?

    Why are you now singing the praises of the Chinese?

    Isn’t China the flagship of your dreaded communism?

    Where is your boy Trump in all of this? Riding on the coattails of Robert E. Lee to return to the ‘blackened’ White House?

    Can’t you see that Uncle Sam is slowly but surely ceding its make-believe empire of world dominance to China?

    Which domino is next to fall after the Afghanistan debacle? The ROC aka Taiwan?

    What would the placeholder Pres. Harris do then? Blow her own trumpet to signal the start of Armageddon in order to slay the Red Dragon?


  35. JohnSeptember 7, 2021 9:57 AM

    Go and look at the data and think for yourself!!

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    First part seems to be working, I got someone looking …. but problem is not thinking!!


  36. I THINK you are a jackass!!


  37. @ 🐇
    I was out of the covid business, but this is too tempting to ignore…

    Entering 🐰 hole.

    Why does the water theory not apply to China as well?

    And most of your comment about the China vaccines incorrect.

    Exiting 🐇 hole


  38. DonnaSeptember 9, 2021 10:33 AM

    I THINK you are a jackass!!

    ++++++++++++++++++++

    …………………. but one who thinks for himself!!


  39. Grasshopper

    It does!!!

    What part of my comment about the China vaccines is not supported by the data all the experts use?


  40. Our tourism minister is on the right track.

    Of course we need the old prison. First and foremost as a new prison for the many local rule-breakers who do not wear masks, for anti-vaccination activists as well as for the participants of the August riots in the inner city.

    If this prison also overflows, we should execute the death penalty against the many murderers. That will create space in prison again.


  41. Pick sense from the statement below.

    “Referring to the industry as the “bread and butter” of Barbados’ economy, Minister Cummins stated that: “The overall outlook for the sector is positive, yes, but cautious. If I’ve learned anything is, I’m not putting all my eggs in any basket….So all the projections and the optimism that we may have …may go away. So, what we have to do is to plan and mitigate, “but also to diversify our base narratives.” (BGIS)

    Is there a Jesus in the house? Lord have mercy on the good people of Barbados.


  42. All the data is produced by Johns Hopkins University.

    It’s gotta be right or they would not put it up!!


  43. See, only one infection which of course won’t sow up on China’s graph with a vertical scale to 15K.

    “Shanghai escalated a residential compound in Pudong New Area to medium-risk after the city reported one new domestic coronavirus case on Tuesday, about six months since the city saw its last local infection”.

    If other countries are having problems then they clearly do not know how to inject the Chinese vaccine, or China is doing something else and not saying!!

    But to all intents and purposes, no breakthrough infections in China and the unvaccinated are not being infected either!!

    “So far over 3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been injected, but the number of vaccine breakthrough infections is still limited, Zhang said, noting that compared with previous situations in which residents hadn’t taken the vaccines, the spreading speed would have been very rapid.

    The only standard for effective COVID-19 prevention is whether residents can live a normal life, Zhang noted on Tuesday. “Residents can live a normal life when the epidemic is prevented and controlled well,” Zhang said.”

    PREVENTED AND CONTROLLED!!!!!!

    https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1230400.shtml

    https://imgur.com/Q5liC50


  44. So, what can the Chinese be doing?


  45. Clearly they are doing two things!!


  46. “President Joe Biden on Thursday is toughening COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal workers and contractors, according to a person familiar with the plans.

    Just weeks after he mandated federal workers get a shot or face rigorous testing and masking protocols, Biden has signed a new executive order to require vaccination for employees of the executive branch and contractors that do business with the federal government.”
    Source: Bostonglobe.com


  47. Biden is a complete and useless clown!!

    Whatever he touches turns to ash.


  48. Oops, …. O’Biden.

    He in a class below Jimmy Carter and even O’Bama.

    All three complete disasters.


  49. Getting inside the mind of a lunatic

    John is a wannabe rightwing conservative populist who wants his own radio show podcast like his man crush Rush Limbaugh who stopped broadcasting when he died of lung cancer but in the mould of Alex Jones Infowars Conspiracy in honour of his hero the fungus mold Donald Trump former PotUS who is Lam off grid from authorities due to cases and will soon be on the run from jail when he couldn’t get bail

    John is sitting at the Children’s Table busily colouring in pictures with crayons drawing outside the line as he is still not ready to batter up for the Big League of KKK American Bullshitters and is working as a journeyman boxer fighting in the smaller internet gigs in the Underground of Barbados droning away with repetition of nonsense, until he can think off his next piece of bullshit to be added to the pile he has accumulated

    He claims to be an original thinker, which means that if loving racists like Trump is wrong, he does not want to be right

    If he didn’t post his wack shit on these Covid threads there would be no posts at all

    but he is old and must be about 100 in mental age and shouldn’t be fought against as his backward generation is soon joining the dearly departed who farted and shit in their nappies, they say everything is for a while and once a man twice a child

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