March 2020
On 17 March 2020, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic confirmed the first two cases in Barbados. They were to remain in isolation until they recovered. [1] Two days later, three more cases were confirmed, including the husband of the first case, as well as a cruise ship passenger and a person from New York. [14] By 24 March, there had been 18 confirmed cases in total. [15]
On 26 March 2020, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that the country reached 24 cases and would be entering stage three of the COVID-19 National Preparedness Plan. A public health emergency was declared and a curfew would be in effect from 28 March to 14 April, from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., with limited movement during the day. Businesses in the private sector would be closed from 28 March 2020 by 8:00 pm until 15 April 2020, except for those excluded by the government such as grocers, pharmacies, gas stations and farms, with specific allowed operating hours for each business type. Restaurants would still be allowed to open but only for drive-through and take-away services. People contravening the order without a reasonable explanation would be liable to a fine of BBD $50,000, one year in prison, or both. [16] [17]
The next day, the Minister of Health announced that the total number of cases at 26. By that date, Barbados had conducted 234 tests overall. [18] Two days later, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anton Best, announced seven more cases taking the total number of cases up to 33: Of those cases 19 were imported, 11 were identified through contact tracing, and 2 were still being investigated. By that date, Barbados had conducted 287 tests overall, and there was no evidence of community spread. [19]
On 30 March 2020, Bostic announced another new case, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 34. [20]
April 2020
On 1 April 2020, acting Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw announced that 11 tests were positive the day before, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 45 and the total number of tests performed to 382. [21] The next day, Bradshaw announced that because people were still congregating in large groups despite previous measures, Barbados would be placed under a 24-hour curfew from 3 April 2020 at 6:00 pm. From that date, all supermarkets, mini marts, restaurants, government offices, departments and statutory corporations would be closed, the sale of alcohol would be prohibited, and people would only be allowed to leave their homes to "go to the pharmacy, to seek medical assistance, or if you are part of the essential services, or if you are doing business with any of the businesses, which are exempted under this Order". Some food sellers, such as bakeries, bread depots and "village shops" would be allowed to operate during designated hours, but could have no more than three people congregating at a time. [22] On 3 April 2020, the start of the curfew was delayed until 8:00 pm. to allow workers time to go home after shutting up. [23]
By 4 April 2020, there had been 52 confirmed cases in total, with ages ranging form 17 to 83 years old. [24] By that date all cases were still active—there had been no deaths nor recoveries. [25]
The next day, Barbados announced its first COVID-19-related death, an 81-year-old male with underlying conditions who had returned to the country from the UK on 22 March, as well as its first six recoveries: four males and two females who would be discharged from isolation in medical facilities that day. Four new cases were also announced, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 56 out of 527 tests, the majority of cases being mild to moderate. There was still no evidence of community spread. Only three ventilators had been used up to that date out of 37 owned by the government and 11 owned in the private sector and made available to the government. 150 ventilators were on order from various sources. An order of 20 ventilators paid for by a philanthropist had been seized by the US government. Five ventilators donated by Rihanna were expected to reach Barbados by the following week. [26]
Also on 5 April, a team of 100 healthcare professionals arrived from Cuba offering support to local frontline medical teams and would start working at the Harrison Point facility upon its completion. [26] [27] The same day, the Queen of Barbados addressed the Commonwealth in a televised broadcast, in which she asked people to "take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return." She added, "we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again." [28]
On 7 April 2020, it was announced that on the following three days, supermarkets would reopen from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm to take orders online or over the phone for curbside pickup or delivery, though customers would not be allowed to enter the supermarket. [29]
On 8 April, the Harrison Point facility was handed over to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to be outfitted with furniture and equipment. The construction work which had finished the previous day had taken just under five weeks. [30]
On 11 April 2020, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that the 24-hour curfew would be extended to end at midnight on the night of 3 May, instead of 14 April. Schools would no longer be able to reopen on 14 April, so e-learning and distance learning options would be explored, while common entrance and CXC exams would be postponed. She reminded the population that there was no shortage of food supplies in the country and announced a new surname-based schedule which food suppliers and banks would start using. [31]
On 18 April 2020, 23 days after the declaration of the public health emergency and 15 days after the start of the 24-hour curfew, Barbados achieved three consecutive days with no new confirmed cases. By that date there had been 1,000 tests performed, resulting in 75 confirmed cases (38 female, 37 male) ranging from ages 7 to 95. There were 17 recoveries and 5 deaths (1 female, 4 male) with 53 cases still active. [32] [33] The next day, the Harrison Point facility received its first patients and patients were to continue being transferred there from the Enmore facility and the Blackman and Gollop facility over the following days. [34]
On 20 April 2020, Acting Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw announced that while the curfew would remain in effect, some measures would be put in place to ease its restrictions, including: longer opening hours for supermarkets and mini marts; computer stores being allowed to open for deliveries and curbside pickups; and gas stations no longer falling under the alphabetic shopping schedule. Additionally, members of the public who should have allowed to shop on public holidays would be allowed to shop at other assigned times(National Heroes Day and May Day fall during the curfew period). Minister of Health and Wellness Jeffrey Bostic announced that scope of testing would be widened, and that only one ventilator was being used at that time. [35] [34]
On 24 April 2020, the Parliament of Barbados extended the state of emergency to 30 June. The curfew's end date, 3 May, was not adjusted. [11]
On 30 April 2020, the prime minister announced that from 4 May the 24-hour curfew would revert to an overnight curfew, in effect from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am. Some low-risk business would be allowed to reopen, the sale of alcohol would no longer be prohibited, and beaches would be open from 6:00 am to 9:00 am. [12]
