BYisrael: Rampant testing can spare Tobago

Minority Councillor Dr Faith BYisrael believes Tobago's small population of around 60,000 is an advantage in the fight against covid19.

BYisrael made the statement while responding to last Thursday’s motion at the 35th Plenary sitting moved by Secretary of Health Tracy Davidson-Celestine at the Assembly Legislature in Scarborough.

Appealing for more aggressive testing for the novel coronavirus, BYisrael said the THA must do more to prepare Tobago for the possibility of dealing with its own cases of covid19, should Trinidad become swamped.

In the motion, Davidson-Celestine urged Tobagonians to adhere to the actions and initiatives by both Central Government and the Assembly in the fight against the covid19 pandemic.

Davidson-Celestine said that the motion was brought to the House to show that the THA is playing a critical role in Tobago as well as in the country to curb the spread of the virus.

“This motion is intended to share with the wider audience the holistic approaches undertaken by the Tobago House of Assembly, in light of the challenging situation which confronts us all.

“We have been collaborating with the Ministry of Health to ensure a consistent nationwide response to the covid19 pandemic and we have been an integral partner on policy, clinical and at the technical level,” she said adding that the Assembly has “been working to ensure that we slow the spread of the virus and to maintain societal order within this catastrophe.”

However, BYisrael said, “I am a little bit more than a tad disappointed that we are choosing to not stay in their safe spaces at home to come to debate a motion that in my mind, and the mind of many others, is quite vague and that could have been used to do other more critical and timely debates.”

She gave an example of a motion that could have been debated such as the possibility of using the funding from the now cancelled Tobago Jazz Experience “to possibly do some of the things that need to be done.”

BYisrael recommended that in the first instance, testing be done on everyone who has flu-like symptoms.

“Tobago is 60,000 people. We have the benefit of having a pretty small population here and because we have a very small population, we have an opportunity to arrest this before it gets out of hand.

“If we use a very conservative, a very conservative testing regimen where we do surveillance testing of one in every 200 people, that is only what: 300, 350 tests? In the grand scheme of things, 300 tests in Tobago to pick up and ensure that we are infected or not infected is not a tall order and it is worth taking time, effort and resources to put it into our system,” she said

Acknowledging that CARPHA is the only testing site in the Caribbean, the Minority Councillor recalled a recent Ministry of Health media briefing where the Minister of Health boasted of getting additional testing machines to allow testing at the Mt Hope Hospital and Trinidad Public Health Lab.

She is of the view that Tobago should receive machines too instead of having to send swabs to Trinidad.

“We have a host of lab technicians, many currently working, many who have graduated and are not yet working. So, if the issue is we need more people to take up the load, there are people who have the basic training, who have level one and level two lab tech training in Tobago, who just need to be additionally trained in this specific situation. We can do that,” she said.

BYisrael said Tobago is in a difficult position with confirmed covid19 patients being sent via boat to Trinidad.

“What is necessary is we need to be able to have ventilator services for patients, that is what is necessary.

“I am suggesting that as a Plan B, we negotiate to have at least ten of those come to Tobago so that we can treat with our patients here. As a matter of fact, we need a portable one right now, because if heaven forbids, a patient that is going from Tobago to Trinidad via Coast Guard needs ventilator servicing whilst on the way, I am not sure that we have a portable one to go with.”

The motion was passed after three hours.