The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE president of the Consultant Physicians Staff Association expressed hope that next week’s general election will have more safeguards in place after yesterday’s advanced poll drew long lines and crowds.

Dr Sabriquet Pinder-Butler’s comments came after the Ministry of Health confirmed on Wednesday that the highly contagious Delta variant is the predominant strain in The Bahamas.

Asked if a vote was the best thing to happen in this current COVID-19 surge, Dr Pinder-Butler replied: “It absolutely is not the best thing at the moment. I think you know from when we heard the date for the election we knew it was not the best thing.

“We spoke about it. We spoke to the government. We’ve been speaking to our Bahamian people as much as possible. Unfortunately, we know how these things tend to pan out and despite best efforts of reiterating the importance of following the preventative measures some persons tend to congregate and people get excited about voting, especially if certain protocols aren’t in place.

“Protocols for voting should be in place so that persons should be social distancing appropriately outside or waiting in cars. It can be problematic if announcements aren’t made in advance. So this is why we also hoped that the government would’ve made certain announcements in advance of these activities and certainly if it didn’t happen today we hope that it’s in place for next week.”

Thousands of people voted yesterday.

Despite the country’s COVID-19 infections and virus-related hospitalisations surging, the Free National Movement has held some drive-in rallies. Supporters have been seen getting out of their cars to cheer the speakers on.

Asked if the party should stop the rallies considering the news of the Delta variant, Dr Pinder-Butler said she was not sure if that would “really change much.”

“I mean at this particular point we’re in (an) election — I don’t know if that will really change much because we’ve already been having things,” she said.

“We all need to be mindful of whatever activities are happening whether it’s a rally, whether it’s the motorcade…. We cannot play a blind eye and act like COVID isn’t happening in the country. I don’t know why we’re not doing these things. It’s an individual responsibility as the government is responsible for certain things and has been saying things…Irregardless of what we’re doing whether we’re going to the bank, whenever engaging with people at work we all have to practice those measures.”