By PAVEL BAILEY

BAHAMAS Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union President Darrin Woods says hotel workers have been helped tremendously by government’s free COVID-19 test pilot.

In an interview Friday, the union president said the initiative was something he supported because it represented a more "economical" option for union members, especially those who are unvaccinated and have to test for COVID-19 regularly.

He said: "It’s been a tremendous help to them because they’ve been able to participate in it. because they, the unvaccinated persons, are required to test regularly every five days and, of course, it was a cost to them.

"And so, therefore, now with the free testing it is much more economical for them to go through the government system and participate in that."

He went on to voice longstanding issues with hotels requiring unvaccinated workers to test weekly.

While he understands that the current health policy requires people to get tested to travel, Mr Woods said he is firmly against the private sector extending this requirement to its domestic employees.

“We don’t believe that employers should make employees test for employment because again the government is the major employer on the island and not every employer is asking or requiring persons to be tested.”

Mr Woods believed that measures listed in the Health & Safety Act should not be passed on to the employees, adding he has been trying to resolve the matter through legal means.

While he is still against hotel workers having to get tested to go to work, Mr Woods said he is glad that the government followed through on a campaign promise to make free testing available.

“On the one hand, we don’t believe that they should’ve been tested to go to work, but in the interim because they are required to test and until the matter has been adjudicated then, of course, the free testing of course has been part of the New Day government’s platform on their campaign trail that they would make free testing available.

“And they have gone ahead and implemented the pilot programme and, of course, we hope to see that continue to mushroom as it would have done.”

While the free testing programme is still limited in its scope, he hopes that it will continue to grow so more people can benefit from it.

“They’ve moved from 400 to 1000 a day, so we are looking in the near future to see those numbers continue to grow where it is widely available for anyone who actually needs to be tested.”

As the global COVID case numbers continues to rise he mentioned the growing concerns of hotel union members of ensuring that guests entering the country that test positive for COVID-19 are properly contained and monitored to ensure tourism workers safety.

“There is concern in terms of, how should I say it, with the ensuring that persons, I’m talking about the guests now, who have contracted COVID to make sure that they are properly contained and quarantined, and they are monitored. Pretty much the same way if you or I were to catch it, there is a quarantining period where we have to stay home, and the various reporting is done just to make sure. But the concern that we get from them is better control for persons who have been known to have tested positive, especially in the industry. How do you kind of contain them to a particular area or room or whatever have you?”

When asked if the government is doing enough to protect hotel workers from guests who test positive for COVID he said:

“Yes, I think the government needs to look at it, but I guess you could say they are probably trying to do a balancing act. Because they don’t want to frighten – my words – the guests, or tourists from coming to the country, but at the end of the day whatever is necessary.”

Mr Woods noted that while the latest strain of COVID is very easily transmittable he thinks that people need to take the necessary precautions to keep the situation from getting too far out of hand, including continuing to follow the relevant safety protocols.