By EARYEL BOWLEG
Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
HEALTH experts are advising persons considering travel to the US for Black Friday sales to ensure they practice COVID-19 preventative measures.
Dr Nikkiah Forbes is the Director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme at the Bahamas Ministry of Health said yesterday Bahamians should weigh the need for travel.
“We have to remember the overall context which is that that travel is a risk for getting COVID and spreading COVID,” Dr Forbes said. “It absolutely is and so first and foremost the advice would be to weigh the need for travel and if you decide that you are going to travel and as the holiday season approached and if you are going to travel there are certain things you could do to make yourself safer while traveling.
“Some of those things are wearing a mask, you want a well-fitting mask. If it’s a woven mask that’s going to be worn properly over your nose and mouth so proper mask wearing can cut the incidents of COVID by 53 percent. That’s by itself and then the other part is health precautions.
“You are going to try to avoid crowds, especially crowds where there’s a mix of persons that may be vaccinated and not vaccinated and also all the other general health precautions. If you are feeling unwell, if you’re feeling sick don’t travel and of course hand washing and not touching your face.”
She also said: “Then there are things that you can do to make yourself safer. For example, getting vaccinated - fully vaccinated. That is going to help tremendously to reduce the risk of getting COVID.”
Consultant Physicians Staff Association president Dr Sabriquet Pinder-Butler added that it would be better for shoppers to support local small businesses or shop online to prevent contracting the disease.
She said: “We want to re-stress the importance of paying attention to those preventative measures as much as possible for persons who will be travelling and who will be shopping.”
“We have to talk about whether a person should travel or not certainly because we know that there are always increased risks. We will always want people not to have too much travelling. So, if online shopping is something that’s available and I think it has been available to most of us that will be perhaps be encouraged more or shopping more at home locally.
“We know that we’ve been trying to get our economy back in line, so support local businesses. A lot of those places have also instituted some online practices and delivery practices… those places I’ve seen a lot of flyers with Black Friday bargains as well.”
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- Infectious disease expert: 'You should still wear your mask'
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Comments
joeblow 2 years, 11 months ago
... covid is spread by breathing, even with masks. I wonder how many can socially distance on a plane and hold their breath for the entire trip!
John 2 years, 11 months ago
Officials in Germany says the single most determine factor of how intense the fourth wave is in a country is THE WEARING OF MASKS!’ Not vaccines, not booster shots, not anything else but masks first. And the fourth wave must meet a population with MASKS ON! If spikes or increases have already started, it means that country has missed the opportunity to keep new cases and deaths minimal. And this fourth wave, though rapid moving, affects the vaccinated and unvaccinated. It affects people who had taken booster shots. And persons who have pre-existing conditions should self isolate and follow all the other safety measures as much as possible. Some countries have had to reintroduce curfews and lockdowns.
whogothere 2 years, 11 months ago
Free advice - if you're old, obese, immune compromised but vaccinated, wearing a mask and socially distancing basically don't travel avoid crowds - you're still in at risk - They have not found a way to protect you for sure. The rest of society get on with your life...COVID has never really been a risk to you no matter what you did..
Twocent 2 years, 11 months ago
The health industry recommends….The truth is it is only an industry and like all industries it is driven by the circulation of money. Nikkiah Forbes receives money from various industry partners and is therefore behooved to repeat the propaganda that in turn supports those partners. Anyone who has a business or economics degree knows exactly what I’m talking about. It really is up to the independent person to do their research, observe the overall experience, and use “best practice” based on what they have learned. Masks, hand washing, and isolation (or distancing) are effective practices with over a century of good data. While diet, adequate hydration and exercise have been shown for much longer to help a person’s general health and ability to fight infection. Even the health industry shows it understands the economic flow of money and its benefits by recommending we shop at home. However, just as you know shopping at home benefits us all, we also know we deserve value for money and won’t buy something that does not work the way it was advertised too. We know a scam when we see it, right?
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