The Tribune

* Coalition stunned by '180 degree' reversal

* Came after 3m kits distributed to entry ports

* Principal: 'This why I don't like work for Gov't'

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian non-profit has blasted the Government's "180 degree turn at the 11th hour" for "sidelining" their agreement to provide three million COVID-19 test kits to facilitate tourism's re-opening.

Robert Myers, a principal with the Living with COVID Coalition (LWCC), told Tribune Business the Minnis administration's last-minute decision to abandon rapid antigen testing for all border arrivals occurred after the group had already distributed the kits "throughout The Bahamas" to all ports of entry.

Revealing that the Coalition was only informed of the policy switch last Thursday, less than 72 hours before tourism's "reopening" yesterday, Mr Myers said the reversal represented a waste of time and money for both himself and other members as he declared: "This is why I don't like doing work for government."

To eliminate the 14-day mandatory quarantine for all arrivals, which was seen as a major impediment to tourists travelling to The Bahamas, the Government initially announced its replacement with a series of more frequent tests. Besides presenting a negative COVID-19 PCR test upon arrival, visitors were to also receive an antigen test at the border and again if they stayed for five days.

The Living With COVID Coalition, in a joint statement with the Ministry of Tourism that was issued a week ago Sunday, touted that as part of a public-private partnership (PPP) between the two sides it had secured three million World Health Organisation (WHO) and Ministry of Health-approved rapid antigen tests via local medical supplier, Ports International, to enable country-wide testing of all arrivals.

Yet, just four days later, both the partnership and rapid antigen border testing were dumped by the Government. Both Dionisio D'Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, and Dr Delon Brennen, the Baltimore-based deputy chief medical officer, on Saturday said the "upon arrival" testing was dropped because it was not "supported by the science".

They argued that these tests would add little to a traveller's negative COVID-19 PCR test, which they have to obtain within five days' prior to getting on a plane to The Bahamas, adding that they would not detect visitors carrying the virus who are asymptomatic.

Mr Myers, disputing this, argued that international experience and research had shown it typically took three to five days before COVID-19 carriers became infectious and "started shedding". As a result, he said a rapid antigen test upon arrival would still "catch a large percentage" of these - especially those who had obtained a negative COVID-19 PCR test three to five days before travelling.

And Mr Myers also questioned why the Government did not conclude border testing was "not supported by the science" some 12 weeks ago, when it and the Coalition first started talks on providing a solution.

He added that Mr D'Aguilar, who was quoted in the November 25, 2020, press release touting the partnership with the Coalition, and Dr Brennen had been its main contact points and who had requested that kits be provided for a comprehensive testing regime that included the border.

"This is not something the Living With COVID Coalition came up with on its own," Mr Myers told Tribune Business. "This was a collaborative effort with the Government, Health and the deputy chief medical officer. Dionisio and the deputy chief medical officer were in constant contact, as were the Department of Health and other doctors,.

"You can imagine our complete surprise when they pulled this. We had built the whole system for them. We had delivered the tests throughout the country by plane on Thursday and Friday, and got the platform for the Bahamas Health Travel visa in place. That's where we're at. We can't do anything more than that. I can't help them any more. We've done all we promised to.

"They changed their minds and we don't support that change. We've worked for 12 weeks on this, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's disappointing but that's life. It's not everything that works. We put a lot of time into it and at no cost. I didn't make any money. I put a lot of time and personal money into it, but if they do what they're doing it's a tremendous waste of my time and other people who contributed."

It is unclear why, just four days the Ministry of Tourism's name was placed alongside the Living With COVID Coalition's, the "science" supporting border testing abruptly changed from the Government's perspective - especially when the two sides had been talking for three months.

Mr D'Aguilar, in his national address on Saturday, indicated that the challenge of rolling out rapid antigen testing at all Bahamian ports of entry, and across all islands, was simply too complex from a logistical perspective.

"As you can imagine, the logistics and complexities of rolling out any type of testing in a country with as many islands and, as a consequence, as many ports of entry as we have in The Bahamas, is no small undertaking," he said.

"As the Ministry of Tourism fleshed out that idea, of testing at the border and began to roll it out with the huge support of the Immigration Department, Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), the Airport Authority, the Grand Bahama Airport Company, marina operators, local health care providers and other interested parties in the private sector, the guidance from the Ministry of Health changed.

"The use of rapid antigen tests as an effective screening tool at the border was not supported by the available research or, was not supported by the science."

Dr Brennen later explained the "science" as being that rapid COVID-19 antigen tests upon arrival were of little use in picking up asymptomatic carriers of the virus given that all visitors coming to The Bahamas must produce a negative PCR test taken within five days of their travel.

"If someone were to be exposed on Monday, and travel on Tuesday, if they had a test done at that time it would not show as positive anyway, so it will not give you the type of results you are looking for," Dr Brennen added. Due to the five to six-day "incubation period" that COVID-19 carriers go through, he said "testing on arrival will not give you the type of results you think it would".

Mr D'Aguilar said: “I looked throughout the Caribbean, I looked at a total of 20 destinations, and of those 20 countries only three were testing upon arrival. So obviously this is not something that has gained traction, and not being generally accepted, so if everybody is not doing it, there must be some reason why they are not doing it.

"They are not doing it because science is not supporting it. We can only go with science. We have a very robust public health department. We are guided by them. We had the same questions as you."

It is unclear, though, why the Government would effectively wait until the last minute to abandon a partnership that it had endorsed via the Ministry of Tourism just four days before. And also why it took so long to research other countries and decide the support for border testing had evaporated when it had been talking to the Coalition for 12 weeks.

"I don't like doing work for the Government because there's not enough leadership," Mr Myers added. "It's always such a bloody mess any time you deal with the Government. That's why in all the things they do that don't attract the 'Grade A' people because they do not want to put up with their nonsense.

"The problem is at the 11th hour, after we had delivered the kits, they changed their minds. We didn't expect the Government to do a 180 degree on us, but we can't help them any more. I'm certainly not willing to give up any more of my time when you move the goal posts. I wasn't willing to play that game anyway."

The indications are that the Ministry of Health overruled their tourism counterparts on the rapid antigen border testing. However, Mr Myers argued that it was "a big risk to run", with the multiple doctors involved with the Coalition also disagreeing with the Government's decision.

He argued that elimination of this testing phase could potentially result in COVID-infected visitors being into their 10th day before they are uncovered, and spreading the virus to other tourists and Bahamians alike, even though the Government has narrowed the PCR test window from seven days before travel to five as a result - a deadline Mr D'Aguilar conceded will be a major "undertaking" to comply with.

Mr Myers, who said the Coalition will now focus on providing test kits for employers, churches, civil society and the Government, added that the end to "upon arrival" testing will cut the number of COVID tests required "in half" and thus make it uneconomic for clinics and private practices - who would just be covering their costs - to participate.

Whether the latest travel and tourism COVID-19 protocols provide the clarity and certainty the industry, and its customers, need remains to be seen. The framework unveiled on Saturday contained a number of last-minute changes and clarifications for the health procedures visitors must comply with, some of which raised more questions than answers.

Besides the decision to drop COVID-19 on-arrival rapid antigen testing less than 72 hours before the November 1 tourism "re-opening", and dropping the pre-arrival PCR test from a seven-day to five-day window, the latest Emergency Orders issued by the Office of the Prime Minister on Friday afternoon still stipulated that the mandatory 14-day quarantine period remained in place.

This forced Mr D'Aguilar to begin Saturday's national address with an immediate pledge that the 14-day quarantine - which most tourism industry participants have long argued was a major deterrent to visitors coming here - is indeed being eliminated consistent with previous promises, and that the oversight in the Orders will be corrected.