Jan 19 (Reuters) - Voting got under way in Barbados on Wednesday in the first general election since the Caribbean country became a republic last year.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley, whose Barbados Labor Party controls 29 of the national legislature's 30 seats, called the election in December, saying the vote would help promote unity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, which has heavily hit the country's tourism-focused economy.
Some 5,000 people of a population just under 300,000 were in isolation after being infected with coronavirus, according to recent official figures.
The former colony declared its independence in 1966 but retained Queen Elizabeth as its ceremonial head of state until Nov. 30 last year. She was replaced by President Sandra Mason.
(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Howard Goller)
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