PLP Leader Philip "Brave" Davis.
AFTER a meeting with Pan American Health Organisation officials yesterday, Progressive Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis accused the Minnis administration of not doing enough to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
He said the government is “disconnected from reality” in its announcements about the restart of the tourism industry, adding that while the United States has already issued COVID-19 related warnings about travel to The Bahamas, PAHO reportedly suggested other nations were considering the same.
“The situation in our country is extremely serious,” Mr Davis noted in a statement last night, after he and his team attended a virtual briefing with a PAHO/World Health Organisation representative in The Bahamas.
“Since last Monday, in just one week, 600 Bahamians have tested positive for COVID-19 and 10 Bahamians have died because of the virus. Our healthcare system is near collapse. The government has not added enough personnel nor expanded our hospital capacity sufficiently. “Our doctors and nurses are exhausted and need reinforcements. More than seven months into this crisis the government has still not set up or enforced protocols to keep non-COVID patients at PMH safe from the virus.”
Mr Davis again faulted the government for “a series of policy errors” when it opened the country’s borders on July 1, saying residents are still paying for these mistakes.
“They did not have enough testing or tracing in place to keep up with new cases and contain the spread of the virus. As a result, a few cases have turned into more than five thousand and growing.
“Our country still does not have enough testing. After all this time, after all these lockdowns, after all the sacrifices made by Bahamians, this government still is not carrying out enough testing to contain COVID. That our positivity rate is over 20 percent is proof. WHO requires a positivity rate under 5 percent to consider the outbreak under control. A high positivity rate is evidence that many cases are being missed. When cases are not identified, the virus spreads.
“The government has failed to hire and train enough contact tracers. Many people who test positive are reporting to me that no one has reached out to them for a list of people they saw in the days when they were most infectious. This is inexcusable.
“In addition, PAHO confirmed that The Bahamas is behind countries like Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados in securing therapeutic medicines for patients with COVID. This is another reason why our country is performing much worse than our peers in the region. Indeed, we continue to rank at the bottom of countries globally when it comes to our country’s response to COVID.
“As we have said repeatedly, our country cannot begin to recover economically until we first contain the virus. The United States has already warned its citizens not to travel to The Bahamas and PAHO indicated other nations were considering similar warnings. The government’s announcements about dates for hotels to re-open and cruise ships to return are disconnected from reality.
“Things could not be more serious. We urge the government to change course.”
The PLP has repeatedly called for expanded, free testing for Bahamians.
Meanwhile on Friday, Public Hospitals Authority officials said that due to the limited number of beds and space and to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within Princess Margaret Hospital, areas of PMH have been repurposed to accommodate persons seeking care.
Among the areas included in this exercise is the food court in the Critical Care Block (CCB) which is being used to triage patients seeking emergency care. Patients requiring further intervention are provided assessment in the Emergency Room.
Other areas of the hospital that have been repurposed since the onset of the pandemic in March this year include the old General Practice Clinic, the Legacy Modular Unit, Private Surgical Ward, Maternity Day Unit, Private Medical Ward and Medical/Surgical Ward.
Comments
Topdude 4 years, 2 months ago
This is precisely the kind of pointing of fingers one would expect from a political party that has lost its way. The leader of this discredited PLP party is now trying to score political points on a topic that is apolitical.
Our Government is doing everything that is possible to contain this virus and yet we hear that it is their fault. This is the kind of response one gets in the Bahamas from those seeking to regain office after destroying the nation with its corrupt policies and politics.
We must also not forget that the post treatment effects of the COVID-19 virus become manifest for years to come. And Mr. Davis’ behavior is an example of this. He is talking out of both sides of his mouth while trying to make hay when the sun shines.
Was it not the PLP that destroyed our health care system?
Please leave the Government to do the job it is doing under the most difficult circumstances. Thank you.
And please allow the Honorable Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis to continue his stewardship of our nation without these puerile criticisms at a time when we have to close ranks. God Bless you Dr. Minnis.
tribanon 4 years, 2 months ago
@Topdude: You really are a feeble minded soul; one who most happily and blindly agrees with everything Minnis says and does. It must therefore greatly upset you, but does not surprise me in the least, that the very dispicable and deplorable Davis can time and time again be made to look so good by our grossly incompetent PM. That should tell you, me and most other Bahamians a great deal about the many failures of Minnis as PM. The sooner Minnis is removed from office the better.
trueBahamian 4 years, 2 months ago
Although, Mr. Davis is taking the time to score political points, he is right. We can argue about the alleged corruption of the PLP; the abuse of the public purse, etc. But, we gave yo be realistic here, the PM has failed in terms if containment of this virus. To say that the government has done all it could is a joke. The Ministry of Tourism didn't consult the Ministry of Health before deciding to reopen. We can see that with thr Chief Medical.Officer trying to avoid a direct answer when a reporter asked her about giving the ok for the the reopening. The million dollar question is, why are we reopening when our numbers are out of control? Tourists are not traveling because of fear of the virus. The global economy is in the toilet. The US and other countries have or will have travel adversaries to tell their citizens. The major properties Atlantis, Bahanar, Sandals, etc are closed. We have no plan in place. Our hospitals are near capacity. So, the smart.things is to reopen? Reopening automatically translates to.an increase in cases.
So, once again, how do you conclude that the government is doing everything they can do? This is reckless governance. We know that Bahamiand will go to Miami. We know that some of the sprinkling of tourists that come here will be positive. We can quote about the statement in the testing before arrival and before leaving. But, anyone with a grain of commonsense would know that's BS. You can test.negative for 10 days and test positive on day 11. So, that's not helpful. We had with this dumb reopening idea also the other idea of tourists quarantining forn14 days. This clearly shows the level of stupidity of the Minister of Tourism. Most if not all tourists will be here for less than 14 days. You can pull off maybe a couple of days trip at Atlantis or Bahamar or Sandals. But, once again they are not open. This is grossly insulting that our lives are being controlled by such colossal ignorance and incompetence.
proudloudandfnm 4 years, 2 months ago
Well one thing is certain....
Brave is 100% correct....
This government is not facing reality, they're basically now in full on trump mode...
Lone lies and fantasies...
proudloudandfnm 4 years, 2 months ago
The US putting out travel alerts about OUR handling of the virus????
Lol. US hypocrisy knows no bounds...
DWW 4 years, 2 months ago
still can't take the CPC (CountryPurseCoveters) seriously.
BONEFISH 4 years, 2 months ago
This government has lost the script on the response to the COV19 pandemic.
Cayman Islands is way ahead of the Bahamas in terms of testing.
They initially refused an offer of help from the private sector in securing test kits. They turned down initially the Cayman Islands offer to sell them test kits at cost. That is their mo ,to turn down aid and suggestions from certain quarters.
Their plan was simply to lock down, fatten the curve and reopen on July 1st.They had a very naive, simplistic plan. But that is a mo in basically every thing.
I hope and pray that this November 1st reopening works out. If not, this economy is going to be in more trouble.
licks2 4 years, 1 month ago
What a buncha chicken scratch. . .SO WHAT CAN THEY DO DIFFRENTLY? I can tell alla yinna about how yinna mar them een no good. . .BUT WHEN I GO LOOKING FOR A GOOD NEW MAR. . .YALL EEN GAT A CLUE!!! What a buncha clowns yinna be!!
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