The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MORE than 50 percent of the tests conducted on vulnerable healthcare workers last week have yielded negative results for COVID-19, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday.

“We now have more than 50 percent and I think there’s one positive out (of) the lot,” he told reporters ahead of a Cabinet meeting yesterday when asked for an update on the test results.

However, the health minister later told this newspaper the positive case is an old result. To date, there are 15 healthcare workers who have tested positive for the virus, with one confirmed death.

More than 200 healthcare workers were placed in quarantine last week after a patient tested positive for the virus on one of PMH’s surgical wards.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Health tested exposed healthcare workers of both Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre and PMH for the virus following the incident.

Speaking at the House of Assembly on Monday, Dr Sands noted that while tests were still being conducted on exposed workers, preliminary findings had shown that 25 percent of the tests yielded negative results.

According to the health minister yesterday, more than 50 percent of the tests came out negative for the highly infectious disease.

Medical workers who have been given the all-clear for COVID-19 will be able to return to work once deemed physically and psychologically fit, Dr Sands said.

He noted: “Most of these persons would have been at the end of their 14-day exposure so certainly we expect that the majority of those persons to be appropriately counselled to determine how they’re doing physically, psychologically and then return to the workforce.”

Up to Monday, nearly 800 people were in quarantine.

To ensure these people remain in isolation, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis revealed on Monday the government plans to use technology, such as a tracking app.

Mindful of people’s right to privacy, Dr Sands told reporters yesterday the government is also exploring other alternatives like ankle bracelet monitoring for those in quarantine.

He said: “So, the app that we have chosen actually has the ability to create a boundary, a virtual boundary and if you go beyond that boundary, it sets off that alarm and if you travel to an area like a food store or a pharmacy, a bar a restaurant or whatever, that can be pre-loaded into the software so we know where people are.

“Now, clearly this is an intrusion to personal liberty, and we are very cognizant of this. We have issues of the innocent suffering for the guilty because the overwhelming majority of people abide by the rules.

“And so, we understand also that some people may decide ‘well, I’ll just leave my phone at home and go out into the community.’ So, there are other alternatives, we’re looking at bracelets which are not removable and so that for those people who have demonstrated that look for some reason that phone is stationary for hours on end and they’re not napping, there are other alternatives that we have to look at.”

However, those intent on breaking the isolation rules could be fined $20,000 or face up to five years in prison, or both.

A day after he said officials had “flattened the curve” with respect to COVID-19 infections, Dr Sands urged Bahamians to keep following the social distancing guidelines, as “it is too early to say” that the virus no longer poses a threat to the country. He said yesterday that the flattening process was ongoing.

“We’re not there yet. I think flattening is different from flattened and so, we would like and this is the reason why we’ve extended the emergency orders. It is too early to say that this is now behind us.

“Are there some encouraging signs? Yes. Can we have guarded optimism? Yes. Can we hope to see a better day? Yes, but that doesn’t mean that we should throw caution to the wind and go out and undo everything that has been done the last six weeks.”