Due to the high rate of increase of the deadly virus COVID-19, there have been renewed calls for the government to provide a facility to make testing free for members of the public.
One of the health official who is a surgeon and a physician, Dr. Susan Williams-Lockhart, said the government would be better off covering the costs of free tests for residents, rather than covering the costs of hospital care for the increasing number of Bahamians showing up to the public hospital gravely ill.
According to Dr. Susan, she said “I think we should be testing much more frequently, I think we should be testing for free. I think the cost for paying for an RT-PCR test at $120 is a lot cheaper.
The cost of having someone in intensive care is $5,000 a day for nursing a bed and everything. So you do the math, it’s a lot cheaper.
I think RT-PCR should be made free and the government should pay for it. You tell people anyone who wants to be tested can come.
That way you will be able to isolate who is ill and keep them in one area.
“I would like for there to be some facility made for more testing. People just don’t have the money right now, people are hurting.”
The Ministry of Health reported 130 new cases on Tuesday, adding to the more than 1,500 new COVID-19 infections for the month of July alone.
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