The government reinstated four measures today meant to flatten the curve of Covid-19 infections, as Trinidad and Tobago reels from its highest surge of the novel coronavirus since August 2020. Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh announced that all gatherings for entertainment and concerts are now outlawed, while the public service …
Read More »Dear Editor: Does gov’t have plan to dispose of Covid masks? My 13-yr-old daughter wants to know
“To make me stop sipping my coffee, she came closer, made eye contact and asked again: “What is in place to either recycle, crush or even collect used face masks, shields, vials (that held vaccines), one-use plastic containers for sanitisers and other detergents?” The following Letter to the Editor on …
Read More »Dr Abdool-Richards: No recorded adverse events linked to AstraZeneca vaccine in T&T
The Ministry of Health continues to assert that no one who has received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in Trinidad and Tobago has had any serious side effect. “At this point in time, after administering over 16,000 vaccines, [the ministry] has no recorded adverse events,” principal medical officer Dr Maryam Abool-Richards said …
Read More »Brazil’s P1 coronavirus variant found in T&T
The Ministry of Health has reported that the P1 variant of the Sars-Cov-2 virus—the so-called Brazil variant—has been detected in a local Covid-19 positive patient. In a statement to the media, the ministry said that the sample came from the Nariva/Mayaro County and was sequenced at the University of the …
Read More »Three deaths and 134 new cases; more infections in April than rest of 2021 combined
Trinidad and Tobago suffered three additional deaths related to the Covid-19 virus over the past 24 hours and set a new record for infections in 2021, with 134 positives. It is the third time in the last five days that the government revealed a new high in infections, after the …
Read More »Noble: Economic expectations and emotions; T&T’s unique challenges must factor into analyses
The recent utterances of a UWI economist about our economy (‘dire straits’) had me scampering for a Lloyd Best quote: ‘Palpably, we lack the pegs on which to hang ongoing events, and which would allow us to convert arbitrary detail into a systematic pattern, arithmetic into algebra, the specific into …
Read More »Covid counter: More cases this week than in either February or March
Trinidad and Tobago heads into the weekend having recorded 360 new cases of Covid-19 so far this week. That is more than the total number of cases recorded in all of March 2021 (313) and February 2021 (135). The 652 cases confirmed in the first half of April is just …
Read More »Covid counter: 2 die from Covid-19; 85 new cases marks record for 2021
This morning, Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh said that yesterday’s 70 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were a ‘recent record’ for Trinidad and Tobago. The unwelcome record was broken within hours. This evening, the Ministry of Health reported 85 new cases of Covid-19. This figure is the highest number of cases …
Read More »Gov’t reintroduces bans on in-house dining, beaches and public gatherings; 1,100% increase in infections
Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh announced this morning that in-house dining and beaches are now prohibited while the number of public gatherings is reduced from 10 to five persons, as the government responds to a 1,100% increase in Covid-19 infections from the first week of March. At present, Trinidad and …
Read More »Health ministry accuses Express of ‘misinformation’ and flawed science, over Dr Rowley’s Covid case
The Ministry of Health has denounced a Trinidad Express editorial as ‘misinformation’ after the newspaper criticised the government for not testing people who were in contact with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley during the two weeks prior to his positive test for Covid-19. The editorial, which was published today, quoted …
Read More »Dear Editor: Stakeholders should approach CMOH with ideas for safe sporting activity
“[…] Can the stakeholders assist the government by coming up with ideas for sports to play during this period—even if it is just to allow for some level of training? “[…] This could be done by groups making an application to the respective Office of the County Medical Officer of …
Read More »Callers frustrated as gov’t struggles with vaccine requests; Dr Richards: a learning process
Despite months of preparation for the rollout of the Ministry of Health’s vaccination programme, health officials are struggling to manage the volume of requests for vaccines. Principal medical officer, Dr Maryam Abdool Richards, said: “We have received concerns from members of the population regarding the time taken to reach the …
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