Augustine: Protect health workers

Minority Assemblyman Farley Augustine said healthcare workers in Tobago need to be appreciated and protected amid their battle on the frontline of the covid19 pandemic. Augustine was speaking after Tobago announced its second confirmed case of covid19 – a TRHA healthcare worker. By press time on Sunday, TT had 78 covid19 cases, three deaths and one patient discharged.

In a Facebook live video on Friday Augustine said, "Our healthcare workers are afraid. Our healthcare workers are human beings just like us....They are quietly shaking in their boots. They going to work but they're terrified inside... This virus is unknown to us and while the family of coronaviruses has been around for a while, this is a novel strain. They, like us, are just as scared but they have signed up for a profession where they must be at the forefront of this battle."

Augustine said after listening to the TRHA press briefing on Friday afternoon it has become clear to him that "we nah ready."

He said the press briefing did not leave him reassured and he was left with more questions than answers.

"To learn from the press conference that it wasn't an imported case... and not being able to understand from the press conference how he got it, is even more terrifying."

Augustine said the authorities must be stringent in contact tracing Tobago's second covid19 case.

"Think about how many possible people he would have come into contact with. Asymptomatic people can transmit the virus.

The reason why WHO is recommending we keep testing is there is a need to figure out pretty early if we have a community spread."

Augustine said he was disappointed in the Secretary of Health's response when asked about the number of personal protective equipment (PPE) available to Tobago healthcare workers.

"We have to prepare all our healthcare facilities to confront this issue. When I heard the question asked about how much PPEs we have and we couldn't get a quantitative response but we got a qualitative response which said, 'Enough.' And I ask myself, my God, what is enough? How do you quantify enough and who determines what is enough?"

Augustine said the PDP has been a vocal critic of the health division in the past and has been repeatedly ignored.

"Years we have been complaining about healthcare, complaining about the TRHA board, complaining about the head of the TRHA, complaining about how things are managed, complaining about the former secretary. We were dismissed and led to believe that we were petty, but that wasn't political or being petty, if you have to go through the health service as I did in recent times, you'll realise how challenging it is to go through the health service and get the best."

He said previously he would cuss doctors and nurses but his interactions last year opened his eyes to the obstacles they faced.

"They would complain bitterly about the machines not working, the standard of work (conditions), having to borrow gloves from other departments and buy things themselves...

"In that moment, I realised we are taking our healthcare professionals for granted. I wanted to come on this live to say we appreciate what you do...You healthcare workers have been doing so much for us. Many times we are unaware how broken our healthcare system is in Tobago and how much it will take to fix it. I in no way think the healthcare can be fixed in a month or by a magical leader.

"It's sad the brokenness of the healthcare system in Tobago is showing its ugly head at this time."

The PDP deputy leader said the local response to covid19 has been too reactionary.

"Between January and now, we had a (health) task force that was initially set up, the task force met about twice, never met again, no idea what became of that task force. Till a new task force was set up and as this virus started hitting us, it's almost as if Tobago is waiting for a crisis to respond. I have no idea why we are speaking in the future tense: what we will do, what we shall do. We need to 'do'...The key to fighting this virus is to ensure we are ahead of the curve. That is the kind of proactive that is required."

In a Facebook live video on Sunday, Minority Councillor Dr Faith BYisrael said although she heard the Health Minister boasting of $157 million more to be allocated to regional health authorities to combat covid19, she wondered how much is being sent to Tobago. BYisrael said she has received complaints from health workers that they do not have sufficient PPEs.

She also questioned whether the isolation room at the Scarborough General Hospital is truly isolated. She said, depending on what procedure is being done, the virus can become aerosolised and travel in the air to another room and infect another person. She said the isolation room should have negative room pressure to ensure air does not escape.

BYisrael also criticised Deyalsingh for sending new covid19 testing machines to the Mt Hope hospital and the Trinidad Public Health Lab, but not to Tobago.