Minister of Health Dr. Perry Gomez and other medical personnel from Doctors Hospital yesterday defended their approach in handling widespread speculation that a patient who died on Tuesday was infected with Ebola.
The patient, a 34-year-old man from Ukraine, was onboard a freighter that was en route to New Orleans, Gomez said in Parliament on Wednesday night.
The freighter traveled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, West Africa.
According to Gomez, the U.S. Embassy in Nassau responded to a call to rescue a "very ill" person on the freighter.
Gomez also said in the House that it was brought to the attention of senior officials of the Ministry of Health that a bogus claim was posted on the Internet indicating that a confirmed case of Ebola was reported in The Bahamas.
He said blood results confirmed the patient was infected with malaria.
The patient died on Tuesday just before 8 p.m., according to Gomez.
But The Nassau Guardian was inundated with calls as early as Monday morning about the patient and whether the man had the often fatal and highly contagious disease.
Social media was flooded with such reports, including a voice note with a woman purporting to be a nurse, who provided intimate details of the case.
The note went viral on social media.
The Guardian sought an interview with Gomez shortly after the House session began on Monday, but he declined to comment.
After agreeing to be interviewed earlier that morning, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Delon Brennen said he was unavailable when The Guardian went to the Ministry of Health.
During a press conference yesterday at the Ministry of Health, Gomez was asked why the government waited days before providing details to the public about the patient.
The minister insisted that he addressed the matter in the most appropriate forum, Parliament.
He said he did not learn that the false rumors of the patient had gone viral until 6 p.m. Wednesday.
"I understand the issue went viral on the day we were in Parliament and the minister was not aware of it until late that evening how viral this thing got," Gomez said.
"That is why the response was made from the House because we were in session.
"The only time we could do it was at the end of session. Parliament is a very organized, military like process. You can only speak on certain things at certain times of the session.
"We had to wait until Parliament was finished for me to make a statement."
Princess Margaret Hospital Administrator Mary Walker and Chief Medical Officer at Doctors Hospital Charles Diggis said international protocols were adhered to with the patient.
Asked when health officials would inform the public if a case of Ebola presented itself, Doctors Hospital CEO Charles Sealy said the private hospital would notify the ministry immediately of any case that has any implication to the wider public.
Brennen said there are stringent protocols and screening in place to ensure employees who may encounter an infectious disease such as Ebola are properly trained to handle the case.
"Again, it is unlikely that you will be able to prevent anyone with any infectious diseases from getting on to your shores, but once you do identify it, we ask three things essentially," Brennen said.
"One: Once you identify the person, isolate that person so they do not expose anyone else unnecessarily.
"Once that person is isolated, you ensure that all the universal health precautions and any additional precautions that need to be taken, are done.
"...Then, once you isolate the patient and you protect all of your personnel, contact the right people - public health surveillance unit."
Gomez said health care officials have been preparing for months for any such cases.

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