Joseph Heller’s book ‘Catch-22’ is a satirical novel about war and demonstrates how circular thinking (such as ‘you cannot find your glasses since you need to wear your glasses to see where they are’) does not lead to solutions but dredges up memories that prove to be debilitating. The main …
Read More »Marlon Morris: Does T&T have ‘pandemic response success criteria’ beyond flattening the curve?
“[…] From the onset, the pandemic response success criteria—how we determine success in our handling of the crisis—must be identified with clear timelines and key performance indicators. “Is the success criteria primarily medical and public health-related or social and economic as well? It appears that the key or only goal …
Read More »Deyalsingh prepares for ‘second and third wave’ of virus, Young still tightlipped on security firms
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the government is preparing for a possible second and third wave of the Covid-19 virus and has secured 838 beds across the five regional health authorities at ‘tremendous cost to the country in this time of low economic activity’. The increased capacity of the RHA’s, …
Read More »T&T has 12 recovered Covid-19 patients; 19 released from Balandra despite three more positives
Trinidad and Tobago now has 12 persons who have successfully grappled with and recovered from the novel coronavirus Covid-19. Four of the recovered patients came from the Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility while the other eight were at Caura Hospital. The Ministry of Health has asked the released patients to …
Read More »Camacho: Covid-19 crisis shows urgent need to develop T&T’s healthcare system
“[…] The point I want to make here with respect to Covid-19 is that this crisis has brought to the forefront a whole new concept that prior to now was not one that we gave a lot of national attention. This concept is that of ‘National Healthcare Security’. “I draw …
Read More »Health Ministry prepares to start ‘surveillance testing’ across country for Covid-19
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said that, for the first time, the government will begin the process of testing persons for Covid-19 who did not present with symptoms and were not located through contact tracing. The procedure, described as ‘surveillance testing’, was recommended by chief medical officer Dr Roshan Parasram and …
Read More »‘Old battery buying… and Covid-19 spreading!’ Live Wire looks at latest gov’t initiatives
‘Buying scrap iron, old battery buying… and Covid-19 spreading!’ Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh introduced the government’s latest measure to thwart to spread of the deadly novel coronavirus today, which he coined the ‘loudspeaker programme’. And, no, it is not more complicated than it sounds. Basically, a fellah with a vehicle …
Read More »Demming: T&T must emerge from pandemic as healthier, more tech savvy nation
April 7th marked the 55th month of Trinidad and Tobago being under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Keith Christopher Rowley and no one could have predicted the current scenario. Not in our wildest dreams did we contemplate that we’d be engaged in a daily tally of deaths versus confirmed …
Read More »Health Ministry Update: T&T’s Covid-19 counter climbs to 107
Trinidad and Tobago’s tally of persons infected by the novel coronavirus Covid-19 now stands at 107, after one more person tested positive today. The patient, according to a release from the Ministry of Health, was a ‘contact of a Covid-19 positive patient’. At present, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) …
Read More »Private labs to be accredited for testing, gov’t yet to bring PCR machines on-stream
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh is encouraging private labs to be certified by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), so they can begin doing valid tests for Covid-19. Validated private labs must report cases directly to the chief medical officer, so as to contribute to a national database, and can be …
Read More »Critical point! Govt’s new directives on masks, working hours, pharmaceutical price hikes … and KFC
Trinidad and Tobago has already waved goodbye to overseas travel, doubles, river and beach limes, cinemas, night clubs, bars, betting shops and church. Next on the chopping block is chicken and chips, pizza and any other type of restaurant fare. It is, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley stressed today, the …
Read More »Dear Editor: Time to be ‘less critical and adhere to the medical experts’ advice’
“I’m aware that part of our culture is to criticise and sometimes to trivialise. But this is not the time. The time now is to rise above that way of life and to fight against this unseen enemy that is causing overwhelming death. We must be less critical and adhere …
Read More »