By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

TOP government health official said the pods used to evacuate suspected COVID-19 patients from Family Islands can only carry people who weigh 270 lbs or less.

The comment comes more than a week after Louis Rolle, a 74-year-old Bimini resident, died after officials declined to airlift him because of his weight.

During a press conference yesterday, Princess Margaret Hospital Administrator Mary Lightbourne-Walker said: “Persons who exceed the weight limit, the pod would not be able to afford the protection of the other persons who would be travelling in that vessel, whether that vessel is a plane or a boat if the pod is not secured based on the programme weight limits.”

Health officials were unable to say what alternatives exist for obese people who get a serious case of the disease. Obesity is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 complications.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan said last week’s incident was “unfortunate”.

“It was unfortunate that we were unable to bring the patient out of Bimini due to the weight restriction but certainly it sheds light on the need for us to ensure that given our population, geography, as well as our weight challenges that we have, we are seeking to determine exactly what would be the best way to accommodate a patient that we have in a particular island where we are unable to use the pod that is purchased to bring individuals in from that particular island,” she said.

“It is clear that we have to seek to determine the best way for us to be in a better position to manage persons beyond the weight limit of the pods and certainly all efforts are being put forward to determine exactly how we will do that in the shortest time to prevent us from being in that position again from the Ministry of Health.”

Rolle died exactly one year after Kim Johnson-Rolle, another Bimini resident who was not airlifted in time, became the country’s first COVID-19 death.

West Grand Bahama and Bimini MP Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe did not respond to messages over the weekend seeking a comment on the matter.