A cluster of COVID-19 cases in a family in Barbados

A CLUSTER of COVID-19 cases has been found in a single family in Barbados, Minister of Health and Wellness, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bostic announced on Sunday.

Seven members of the family were diagnosed with the virus between September 30 and Sunday, October 3.

Speaking during a press conference Sunday afternoon, Bostic said the cases were found after several days of aggressive contact tracing related to a positive COVID-19 case diagnosed on September 24.

“The cluster has been traced to a Barbadian woman who returned from the United Kingdom on September 19 and tested positive for COVID-19 after a second test on September 24,” Bostic said.

“The first two family members to test positive were a housekeeper who worked in the woman’s home and her nephew, who were both diagnosed on September 30. “Last Friday, the housekeeper’s 30-yearold niece tested positive and [on Saturday] the niece’s four-monthold daughter and her husband, aged 34, both were confirmed with the viral illness,” Bostic added.

The Minister said that another niece, a 15-year-old student of Ellerslie School, also tested positive on Saturday.

And on Sunday, the great great nephew of the housekeeper, a 12-year-old student of the Ellerslie School tested positive.

All persons are in isolation, the minister said.

“…some of them asymptomatic, and others with mild symptoms,” he said.

According to Bostic, the Ministry will continue its contact tracing efforts this week to identify everyone with whom these individuals came into contact.

He said this is the third cluster identified since the start of the outbreak in Barbados.

Bostic is assuring residents “that there is still no evidence of community spread of COVID-19 in Barbados”.