Every time we have a news press conference for Covid it becomes even clearer that we made the wrong decision to open up our airport borders for the winter season.
(1) Clearly the revenue brought in by the 2020 winter tourist season could not be more than the cost of this one-month lockdown which is estimated at $7m a day for a total of $150m. Has this calculation been done?
(2) We now heard today that the Barbados economy could withstand a one-month lockdown because we have 30 weeks of foreign reserves and restructured debt. Mia said thank goodness her administration restructured the Barbados debt in its first 2 years in power. Didn’t this economic condition exist prior to the 2020 winter season? Doesn’t this mean then that the Barbados economy could have afforded to close its borders for the winter season especially since we knew that there was a new UK variant of Covid which was more contagious? Then why were we told back then that the Barbados economy just could not have afforded to close its borders since we so desperately needed the revenue to be brought in by the 2020 tourist winter season?
(3) If the government knew that they had ordered a necessary binding agent to perform Covid testing since September 2020 and still had not received it then why risk opening up the country especially to the UK where we knew there was a new variant of Covid? A new variant which was more contagious and therefore could result in the possibility of more Covid testing being performed in our country. We needed supplies not just for our citizens when contact tracing was being done but for the said tourist who would have required at least 2 test before being released from quarantine. Minister Bostic clearly stated today that certain required equipment was in shortage and this was not just in Barbados but worldwide. Clearly, the government knew there were challenges in sourcing key needed equipment for Covid testing.
(4) Our quarantine bands were not ready as a tourist could easily remove them in order to break quarantine regulations. The government has clearly stated that they were still awaiting approval of a band that would have worked better than the ones used during the 2020 winter season but in a rush went ahead and open the airport borders. Was it worth the Risk? Where were these economic advisers that Mia spoke of today when these decisions were being made? Did they not advise of the monetary cost of these “quick” decisions?
(5) Mia said she hoped that people who were waiting on Covid test results due to the backlog remained quarantined. This statement concerns me. You “hoped” – what measures were put in place by the government who clearly has the power to implement restrictions to our movements as evident by this one-month lockdown? Were businesses instructed not to call back out to work any employees until test results were received? If based on your calculations 1 infected person can infect up to 3 Barbadians in a very short period of time then how much infecting did over 200 Covid positive Barbadians do that were waiting on their test results since early February?
Finally please admit it – you don’t want Trinidad doing any Biological testing for Barbados because you can’t control the information which you decide when and how to disburse to the Barbadian public. This is clear by the fact that we had to hear from Trinidad news sources about this MIS-C in children brought on by Covid. The foundation in which you stand by i.e. being transparent with the Barbadian society is every month appearing more like you share information only when it’s convenient and when you have had enough time to liaise with your campaign advisory staff.
I know the decision to open up our borders was made in the past and wouldn’t change the present condition but we have lost lives due to it. I think we need to spend some time thinking about if it was the right decision to avoid making future incorrect decisions during this pandemic.
Let me please state that I am not affiliated with any specific government party! These are just concerns being raised in the middle of a pandemic since, after all, it can mean our own lives and the lives of our love ones.
In the meantime stay home not just because we are under a national pause but because we want to conserve lives as WE are sure our motives are not based on any monetary or political agendas.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at support@afbconsultingservices.com