Two returning nationals test positive for Delta variant; unvaccinated travellers came from USA and Mexico

Trinidad and Tobago has its first two confirmed cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant. The Ministry of Health revealed that both patients are recently returned nationals, who entered the country on the back of negative PCR tests—before testing positive while in state-supervised quarantine. Both are unvaccinated.

At present, both persons are isolated at step-down facilities. The Delta variants were ‘confirmed via gene sequencing at the laboratory of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies (UWI)’.

Photo: A positive test for the Covid-19 Delta variant.

“The first patient is a recently returned national who travelled to Trinidad from the United States,” stated the Ministry of Health release. “The second patient is a recently returned national who travelled to Trinidad from Mexico (transiting through Panama and Guyana).”

At present, all returning adults who are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are mandated to spend ‘14 days in a state-supervised quarantine facility’. The government said its entry protocols will ‘continue to be implemented’.

Trinidad and Tobago has 5,911 active cases of the novel coronavirus with 315 new cases, recorded between 7-10 August. There have been seven deaths over the past 24 hours, which took the tally of fatalities to 1,151.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed 40,889 positive cases from a total of 285,006 tests on the twin island republic, since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed cases of the Delta variant in 142 countries to date. The Delta variant, according to WHO research, is ‘more easily spread from person to person as compared to previous variants’ and is ‘estimated to be two to four times more transmissible than the original Wuhan lineage of the virus’.

Photo: CMO Dr Roshan Parasram urges citizens to get the Covid-19 vaccine, shortly after taking his own shot.
(via MoH)

Individuals who have contracted the Delta variant are believed to be ‘prone to an increased risk of severe illness and hospitalisation’. The variant, according to the MoH release, may also ‘lead to an increase in cases of Covid-19 in younger age groups and in those who have been previously infected’.

At present, the government has fully vaccinated 255,138 persons while another 432,806 persons have had their first shot.

The Ministry of Health continues to urge members of the population to be vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus as soon as possible and to follow all of the recommended personal health protective measures, even if they are fully vaccinated:

  • Wear a mask over your nose and mouth when you go out in public;
  • Keep your distance from others (six feet);
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser;
  • Stay home if you are ill;
  • Cough into a tissue or into the crook of your elbow;
  • Avoid touching your face;
  • Sanitise hard surfaces (eg table tops, hand rails, door knobs and trolleys) as often as possible.
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