The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

RESIDENTS of Bimini said they are not worried about a surge of COVID-19 cases sweeping the island despite one resident dying from the coronavirus and another testing positive for the contagious disease.

Bimini resident Kim Johnson-Rolle, pictured, was the first confirmed COVID-19 death in the country. Since her death, officials have reported an additional case of the virus just off the coast of Bimini on Cat Cay. The patient, identified as case #47, is a 36-year-old woman with no history of travel, health officials said. At last report, she was isolated at home.

One resident, Dexter Rolle, who hails from Bailey Town, Bimini told The Tribune he is not concerned about seeing a surge of positive cases in the close-knit community. “The first one happened about three weeks ago and we have not heard of no large spikes yet, so we feel like maybe we’ve been spared and no one else has contracted the disease,” he said. “I don’t think the Cat Cay case will have an effect on us directly because I don’t think the lady ever came off the cay, so I think we are still in the same position that we were in from the first case.”

Mr Rolle insisted area residents were “still holding on” and not too worried about the case on Cat Cay since it happened on a “little private cay on another settlement.”

“People were concerned when they heard cases coming out of Bimini. I think some of them might have been waiting to hear about more people being infected with the disease since Bimini is so small and tight-knit. But like I said, so far so good and as time goes on we feel like things are looking up since the first case was confirmed.

“So we’re still in the same mode that we were in, just expecting anything and keeping ourselves under the regulations put forth from the government and hoping for the best. When I look outside I don’t see nothing happening. Everything is closed down besides the essential services and everybody is in lockdown, so clearly it’s not business as usual.”

Another resident, Oslien Jadorte, added that he felt Mrs Johnson-Rolle’s death served as a wake up call for the island. “I think prior to that incident we were taking it kind of casually,” he said. “Persons were just out and about even though there was a social distancing order and although we were adhering to the 9pm curfew, during the day time, people were just casually hanging out in groups and stores were loaded. So (her death) kind of woke up everybody to take this thing a little bit more seriously.”

Mr Jadorte said that Mrs Johnson-Rolle’s death was a “tough blow” because they were members of the same church. “The sad part about it is around this time we probably would have been having a memorial or a home-going celebration for her, but we can’t even do that. And with the uncertainty of what’s going on, we don’t even know if or when we will be able to do something like that.”

He said once Bimini residents understood the severity of the situation, everyone on the island made an effort to comply with the emergency orders issued by the government. “It’s hard to say how everyone is coping because we have not really had much interaction besides within our own households, but I must say Bimini has been doing a great job in terms of adhering to the curfew and complying,” he said.

Elmeta Rolle, a recent retiree from Bailey Town, also told this newspaper she and her family were “holding up pretty good”.

“I’m not worried about the virus spreading to mainland Bimini because Cat Cay is a little distance from here,” she said. “You have to get a boat or plane to get back and forth there and they were saying before they wasn’t letting anyone on or off the cay, so I don’t know how the person got infected, but I’m following the rules and as far as I can talk for the ones that are here, we’re following the rules.”

Still, Mrs Rolle said while there wasn’t much fear on the island, she was concerned about the regulations surrounding the government’s self-isolation orders.

“That disturbs me because if I take a test at Princess Margaret Hospital and they tell me I’ll get the results in two days and in two days when I go back they say I test positive, I may stop to the store since I know I’m not coming back out.

“I think they should be more strict with that and have somebody monitor them to see that they are carrying out what they’re supposed to do. Police or somebody should accompany that person to make sure they get home and isolate and then there would be less spread of the virus.”