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Relief for testing sites

Entrance of the new COVID-19 testing site at the Queen's Park Steel Shed. (Photo by Shantelle Legall-Gibson)
By Shantelle Legall-Gibson on Monday, 22 November, 2021 at 12:07 PM

Barbadians are to expect a shorter waiting process when having testing done at free COVID-19 testing sites.

On the heels of an article written in a recent edition of The Wallpaper, Acting Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Anton Best assured the public that measures are being put in place to provide relief.

There is a large outbreak of COVID-19 in Barbados and we have significant community transmission. Noting the increase in COVID cases as a contributor the CMO stated, “The number of people coming forward is going to be very high. There is a lot of COVID in Barbados, it therefore means that one person having COVID would have multiple contacts. These contacts would be curious as to if they have COVID therefore they would go to the testing sites to determine whether or not they have COVID.”

Best explained initiatives were already taken to reduce the workload at the three main free government testing sites. The change in travel protocols, allowed the number of personnel and staff at the airport testing site to be reduced and deployed elsewhere. Dr. Best stated this was done to increase the capacity of other sites to better handle the surge of people that were coming forward to be tested.

“We try to meet that [demand for more sites] within the Ministry of Health and Wellness [MOHW] by having two more testing sites established," he added.

On Monday, November 8th, The MOHW opened a new COVID-19 testing site at the Queen’s Park Steel Shed, Constitution Road, St. Michael, which offers both standard PCR tests and rapid antigen tests. The Acting CMO indicated that a second site would be coming on board soon.

Best disputed the complaints about the disorder and lack of structure at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium site, asserting, “To the best of my knowledge that is not the case at Gymnasium testing site. There are people there to direct persons. We do have special lines for certain individuals, and we do have people such as security guards and other attendants that are there to guide persons through the testing process.”

He added, “What may be happening is that there are so many people, people do not realise that there are lines dedicated to what is happening.”

The introduction of these new sites aims to minimise the crowd at the Garfield Sobers’ Gymnasium testing site since they would no longer be the only site offering rapid testing.

 

The Acting CMO also encouraged the private sector to provide testing services, giving more options for people who are willing to pay for the service of having their PCR testing done.

 

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