BARBADOS CONFIRMS CLOSE TO 200 NEW CASES OF COVID-19

BARBADOS CONFIRMS CLOSE TO 200 NEW CASES OF COVID-19

Authorities in Barbados have confirmed 161 new cases of COVID-19 at Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds, including 113 inmates. Outside of the 161 cases connected to the prison, there have been a further 33 cases of COVID-19 identified in the past 48 hours. The authorities have indicated that the Pan American Health Organisation is carrying out genomic analysis to determine whether these cases include the new, more contagious form of the virus. The cases at the prison have been linked to the super-spreader bus crawl on Boxing Day. Health authorities say intensive contact-tracing continues into the bus crawl, with people in bars and restaurants being tested. Two other clusters are being investigated. Meanwhile, the curfew will be between 9pm and 5pm January 2-14. During this period, bus crawls and similar events have been prohibited. Funerals have been limited to ten mourners and weddings limited to the bride, bridegroom, two witnesses and the officiating minister. Barbados is also looking to begin the use of tracking bracelets to monitor those in quarantine.