The importance of preparation

TT continues to escape covid19 infection. After 32 tests for the virus, there are no reported cases, but the country can't hope that will continue to be true.

According to the World Health Organization, there is no cure for the virus and the recommended measures to be taken are both preventive and supportive.

The international strategy is to control the spread of the virus through careful management of potential infection vectors, scrupulous monitoring of infected persons and supportive care for the infected to ensure that their body's response to the virus is optimised. The steps are straightforward, but they must also become pervasive.

As of last week, the Caribbean region had four suspected cases of covid19, pending verification by the Pan American Health Organisation. All are international travellers.

This country has instituted a 14-day ban on visitors from China, adding South Korea, Italy, Japan, Iran and Singapore. An Italian cruise ship, the Costa Magica, due to dock at the Scarborough Port today, was turned away last week. It would be very impractical to close our borders and even the most rigorous monitoring of the travelling public can't catch an instance of the virus in an early incubation phase.

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh has noted the measures implemented to isolate and quarantine suspected patients and the expanded capacity at the Couva Hospital for 230 beds, presumably dedicated to handling any potential spread of the virus. As Deyalsingh himself has noted, the virus is "fast spreading, infectious and aggressive.”

But in our planning, we need only consider the impact of the virus in China, where previous experiences with SARS offered terrible instruction to the country on the control of a deadly, readily transmissible virus.

Even with that background, covid19 has cut a devastating swath, most tragically at its epicentre in Wuhan. There, 42,000 medical staff have been assembled, including 4,000 military doctors to manage the infected. Of that number, 3,000 doctors have been infected and at least 22 have died. Many work ten-hour shifts without bathroom breaks because getting in and out of hazmat suits risks exposure.

Beyond the medical challenges are the economic disruptions that are already rippling out of China’s shutdowns as it works to manage the spread of the virus. Supply chains for manufacturing are in jeopardy, and factory closures that may continue until April have already led to significant delays in shipments.

The government must position its response accordingly. Those measures must include a more robust campaign of public information on protective measures; symptom identification and procedures for handling suspected cases that won't immediately overburden a fragile public health sector.

An excess of precaution and preparation is merited.