By Leandra Rolle


Tribune Staff Reporter


lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MINISTRY of Health officials say they feel “satisfied” that the Grand Bahama passenger who initially tested positive for COVID-19 and has now tested negative for the virus did not present a risk to other passengers aboard the government’s repatriation flight.

During a press conference at the Ministry of Health on Friday, Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, the co-ordinator of the government’s COVID-19 task-force, said officials came to the conclusion after two COVID-19 tests conducted on the male passenger yielded negative results. She said the time between the positive test and the flight was ten days – in which time the patient may well have recovered.

She said: “The tests were repeated, and the second test was also reported negative. Our data shows the time interval from symptom onset to test results in the slide as well as symptom onset to recovery may vary considerably.

“Therefore, this finding is not unusual…It is likely the passenger was shedding the coronavirus when the tests was initially taken, hence a positive result was conveyed. In that case, the interval from the test results that were taken in Florida to that in the Bahamas was ten days.

“Therefore, health officials are now satisfied that the passenger did not pose a risk to other passengers on the flight.”

Last week, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis suspended the government’s repatriation exercises after revealing a Grand Bahama passenger who flew in had tested positive for the virus.

Dr Dahl Regis said although the passenger has since tested negative for the virus, she did not justify the passenger’s actions for boarding the flight while knowing he could’ve been a COVID-19 carrier.

“It doesn’t justify his coming on the flight, but health is in charge to determine if this person presented a risk to the other passengers on the flight, and the only way we can do that is to know his COVID-19 status,” she said.

“So, immediately a test and swab was taken not only on this person but his accompanying travel companions and sent to the lab. Upon disembarkation, this is what was done.”

She continued: “We got the negative swabs and we interpret that as not shedding the virus so when he came on the plane, he was not shedding the virus.”

“We weren’t satisfied so we repeated the test and that too was negative. That confirmed to the health team that he was not shedding the virus when he took the flight hence, the health team is satisfied that he was not shedding the virus when he took the flight.”