NASSAU, Bahamas, May 19, 2021 –Following is an excerpt from Mr. Davis’ House communication today on the resolution to extend the State of Public Emergency where he raised serious concerns about the current spike in COVID-19 infections on the Island of Cat Island.
“Mr. Speaker, I will return to this important point.
But I am here in this House as a representative of my constituents, and I must begin today with the terrible news that Cat Island is experiencing a massive spike in COVID cases, when we were doing so well before.
Mr. Speaker:
A small number of Cat Islanders were experiencing symptoms and took COVID tests.
They quarantined as they awaited their results.
As you know, quarantine is not easy for those who need to take care of their families or find a way to earn a living during this economic crisis. But they did it, as so many Bahamians have over these long months, because we’re still in this together.
What happened next is hard to believe: the government sent back the wrong test results, showing that everyone in the group was negative.
So they ended their quarantine.
A few days later the mistake was revealed — some in the group were in fact positive.
But by then it was too late.
Subsequent testing indicated that out of a group of 23 people, 17 of them were COVID-positive.
That’s an off-the-charts 73% positivity rate.
Nearly a year and a half into this pandemic, how can this kind of mistake happen?
The system and protocols should make it impossible for the wrong test results to be given on a whole batch of tests.
This is basic. Giving people accurate results is a matter of life and death.
Mr. Speaker:
The vaccine was not even made available to the people of Cat Island until the end of April. The Family Islands have been treated as an afterthought.
But whatever the source of the outbreak, it was the subsequent mishandling of the situation that has led to further spread.
And it is this government’s failure to acknowledge and learn from mistakes that we find so infuriating.”
