By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

AS COVID-19 case numbers continue to trend downward, a local senior physician has said it may be time for officials at the Ministry of Health to begin discussions about easing restrictions.

On Sunday, there were 29 new cases of the coronavirus reported in the country. Twenty-six of these cases were in New Providence, one was in Grand Bahama and two were in Eleuthera.

There were also 13 new cases recorded on Saturday: four in the capital, seven in Grand Bahama and two in Eleuthera.

Consultant Physicians Staff Association president Dr Sabriquet Pinder-Butler told The Tribune yesterday that while it may be time to begin weighing the options, there must also be balance to ensure the decision to ease any of the restrictions does not come prematurely.

 “Certainly in the past, because you know we’ve been through highs and lows of COVID for two years or so now and we’ve always supported that when we’re not at peak and when we’re not having overwhelming surges that certainly we would support engagement at the level of ministry and at the level of grouping that has been providing guidance to look at whether or not it’s okay for us to try to relax some of the measures that are in place,” said Dr Pinder-Butler.

“However, we do appreciate that sometimes we have to wait to make sure that we’re not jumping the gun with certain things.

 “And so, I think that even at this state we’re now starting to truly see a bit more consistency with the decline; it may be the same for those types of thought processes to begin.

“Certainly, we know that sometimes we see things and then it’s not sustainable and so you don’t necessarily want to rush in moving those measures because sometimes when that happens it can cause the reverse that we’ve been working towards and so I think perhaps now may be the time for those thought processes to be revisited from that level.”

 This comes as Minister of Education Glenys Hanna Martin told a local daily there are plans to begin the rollout of full face-to-face learning in schools this week.

 Currently, most public schools are operating under a hybrid model with some virtual learning and some face-to-face instruction.

 Ms Pinder-Butler said the education of the nation’s children is most critical and the CPSA supported the hybrid model of instruction.

“I think we have seen in a lot of other countries where children have returned to school safely. I think we always have to be mindful, from what we have been seeing with the pandemic, we have to make adjustments as the need arises,” she said.

 She added that health protocols must be enforced in schools to mitigate any spread of the disease on campuses.

 “I think this is perhaps a step in the right direction, we’re hopeful that all parties involved would have properly engaged, communication would have been had with the relevant unions, stakeholders so they can all work together to make this work the best for our children,” she also said.

 Despite the country moving in the right direction in its fight against COVID-10, Dr Pinder-Butler said resources continue to be strained.

 “Unfortunately, we’ve had challenges with resources prior to COVID, during COVID and now those challenges still remain.

 “This is one of the sad realities for those that are in healthcare because despite us having less concern as it relates to our COVID patients we know that there are challenges with space. We still have challenges with supplies, with manpower and with so many other things.

“We know that there are budget restrictions that have still not been replaced and deficits and all those sorts of things that have not been addressed.

“Perhaps there may have been challenges with addressing them because they were also dealing with COVID and other economic challenges facing the country,” she said.

 “So, right now we are dealing with these things and also now being burdened with the persons that were perhaps not able to receive the care that they needed because of COVID now presenting in some instances worsened cases of disease and diseases processes, which also require more urgent care and more resources and unfortunately we are still not as equipped as we should be as it relates to manpower and supplies. We’re still having challenges offering certain services in the hospital and in the clinic because we don’t have things that we need.”

 Her comments follow former Health Minister Dr Duane Sands’ view that the public healthcare system is far from being “back to normal” despite declining COVID-19 infections.

 He too noted on Sunday that resources were strained coupled with a “phenomenal” backlog of cases involving people seeking non-COVID related care. Dr Sands said due to limited resources, some patients with non-COVID related illnesses are forced to wait days in order to be admitted to the hospital.