NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce (GBCC) president Greg LaRoda said yesterday that while the report of two additional cases of COVID-19 on Grand Bahama is ‘disappointing’, there was no ‘cause for panic’.
LaRoda said: “It’s disappointing that after all this time with no new cases we now have cases showing up but I don’t think it’s cause for panic.”
Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced in Parliament yesterday that two additional cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Grand Bahama.
He advised Parliament that health officials were awaiting results on another suspected case but did not provide details on the patients.
LaRoda said: “I think we obviously have to monitor the situation to see if it’s going to start a trend or not. I don’t think two cases in my mind is cause yet for panic. It should not be a reason in and of itself to say we need to go back to lock downs and all of that.
“We need to see what the trends show. In terms of persons that do test positive, my bigger concern would be over the ones that are becoming ill and need to be hospitalized. I think we have to take a wait and see approach.”
LaRoda noted that while some businesses such as building supply stores and food stores were doing well despite the pandemic, others particularly in the tourism sector were struggling.
“Building supply businesses and food stores have seen a lot of activity because people here have to rebuild and have to eat,” he said.
“Businesses on the other hand in the tourism sector seem to be suffering the most. With no tourists on the island to speak of, a lot of those businesses are taking a wait and see approach. We have to keep monitoring what’s going on in the US because that’s where a huge number of our tourists come from. They seem to be going through a resurgence of COVID-19. While you want to open up to get commerce going again you have to approach it with caution because you don’t want a lot of folks slipping through the cracks and we have more cases than we can handle from a medical standpoint,” said LaRoda.
