TRHA health worker gets covid19

Three months after being appointed to the position of hospital administrator, Tobago Regional Health Authority, Kumar Boodram has resigned.

However, it is unclear as to whether Boodram resigned in the wake of Tobago's second confirmed case of the coronavirus (covid19) on Friday.

Health, Wellness and Family Development Secretary Tracy Davidson-Celestine confirmed Boodram's resignation on Friday during a news conference at the Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort, Lowlands.

"I would answer that to say that the hospital administrator has since resigned. The chairman (Ingrid Melville) of the board and I have since spoken about that resignation and systems have been put in place to deal with any fallout, any shortcomings that is likely to appear within the system," she assured.

On Tobago's second confirmed covid19 case, a male health worker at the Scarborough General Hospital, Davidson-Celestine told reporters the employee and his family are currently in isolation.

"We have received the results from CARPHA (Caribbean Public Health Agency) for one of our health workers who have since tested positive for covid19. The individual and his family have since been isolated and are being closely monitored at this time."

She added the individual, a Tobagonian, had shown flu-like symptoms and in keeping with established protocols, was swabbed and tested.

Davidson-Celestine said: "I am informed that as per established practice, especially in situations like this one, personal protective equipment or PPEs, of both gloves and masks were worn."

She said in the case of PPEs for members of staff, "I am informed by both the medical chief of staff (Dr Victor Wheeler) and the specialist medical officer Dr Ian Sammy, that PPEs are deployed based on the nature of the job to be undertaken."

Davidson-Celestine continued: "And I have been given the assurance by all doctors attached to the covid task force and to this particular circumstance, that all of the PPEs are appropriate for the task at hand."

Sammy, head of the accident & emergency department, said the health worker notified the hospital when he began exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

"What we have done in the emergency department is instituted something called individual monitoring so that members of staff are asked to monitor and self report any symptoms of flu, including fever, on an ongoing basis.

"With that in mind, the individual developed a fever and reported that to us and although they had arrived for their shift, was sent home."

Sammy said the worker, who does not appear to have had a travel history, did not engage in care of any patients at that time.

"They were self-monitoring and the process was effective in that they identified that they were not feeling well and we were able to send them home."

Sammy said, though, an investigation is being carried out to determine the number of people the worker may have been in contact with prior to him developing flu-like symptoms.

Earlier, in a statement, the division said the TRHA worker is to be transferred to Trinidad for further treatment.

It said meetings have since been held with staff at the hospital to inform them of the situation and to provide them with the necessary psychological support.

The division said the hospital will also be deeply sanitised and the scheduled regular cleaning and disinfection will continue.

The news of Tobago's second case of covid19 came less than a week after the division revealed the island had confirmed its first case, one of two returning nationals who fell ill while in quarantine after returning to Tobago on an international flight recently.

The TT Nurses Association, meanwhile, said it is not surprised that a health worker has contracted covid19.

"We are not taken by surprise. When you watch the statistics, ten per cent of all infected persons worldwide are healthcare workers," said TTRA president Idi Stuart.

"In fact, that is why we have been making the call for health care workers to be periodically tested, especially those who actually involved in screening and treating patients for covid19. Unfortunately, that has not started. "