Third male dies of COVID-19 in Barbados

Dr Corey Forde addressing the media while Bonnie Leonce (inset) interprets for the hearing impaired.
Dr Corey Forde addressing the media while Bonnie Leonce (inset) interprets for the hearing impaired.

(Barbados Nation) Barbados has recorded the third death from COVID-19.

Head of Infectious Diseases at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Dr Corey Forde, said the 95-year-old male died at 3 a.m. today, as the total number of cases increased to 63.

He is the third man to have passed away in as many days, following an 81-year-old on Sunday and a 74-year-old yesterday.

Three more people were located through contact tracing and testing.

Forde said there were three people currently on ventilators at the Enmore facility, who are critically ill. These comprise two women, ages 78 and 56, and one male, 52, who is extremely ill and has diabetes.

Overall, there are 53 people in isolation. Seventeen are at Paragon and 29 at Blackman and Gollop Primary School, including four in what Forde termed the “high dependency area”.

Four others are in isolation at home. These include the seven-year-old, his father and a couple.

He said at this stage there is no evidence of community transmission.

“The majority of our people which we have found so far have been linked to Barbadians, for the most part, who have travelled overseas in that period within the 15th of March to present, until we put the provisions in place for quarantine when people arrived,” Forde explained.

Six people were discharged and three are recording negatives tests. They may soon be discharged, requiring one more negative test.

Meanwhile, COVID communications czar Richard Carter said Barbados had recorded 63 cases from the 602 tests that were conducted up to April 5.