CMO: More info needed on Canada case

THE MINISTRY of Health is awaiting clarity from the Canadian authorities with respect to a woman with a confirmed case of covid19, who recently passed through TT.

The Canadians have acknowledged receipt of a request made by TT's health ministry for an epidemiological report, which will provide complete information on the travel and other details of the individual.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram, addressing the chair at a Public Administration and Appropriation Committee (PAAC) for Parliament, said the ministry has engaged the Canadian embassy in TT to expedite the process.

"We don’t know the scenario until I get back the results from public health Canada," Parasram said, noting that it was unclear whether the woman visited TT on a cruise ship and stepped onto mainland or for how long she stayed.

"(However) the chance of transmission in TT is extremely low," he noted, saying it was not cause for major concern.

"Even if they would have passed through Trinidad in the recent past they would have probably not have symptoms at the time," he said, "because you usually can’t board an aeroplane with symptoms. So the chance of transmitting is extremely low, if not nil."

On Tuesday, Alberta, Canada's chief medical officer Dr Deena Hinshaw said the number of confirmed cases of the virus in Alberta stood at 14 people, one of whom she said had visited TT.

Hinshaw noted, however, that many of the travellers had visited more than one country during their trip and so could not say where each patient may have contracted the virus.

Parasram suggested the patient may have even picked up the virus after leaving TT's shores.

"There's a host of different scenarios that could have played out during the course of the time," he said.

"We don’t know the scenario until I get back the results from public health Canada."

"Until we get the epidemiological data from public health Canada it will be speculative to say what are the different iterations. There’s a host of different scenarios that could have played out during the course of the time.