We aren't testing enough

THE EDITOR: I have been following the daily press conferences concerning the covid19 virus and I just wonder if we are getting the full picture.

Bear in mind that the Government went ahead with the Carnival with the virus raging at that time. It was reported that some 30,000 people descended on Trinidad at that time, a considerable amount of them coming from the New York area.

New Orleans went ahead with their Mardi Gras, and they now find themselves in a dire situation.

To date we have had just over 550 people tested, with 89 cases and four deaths. Every other country affected is testing to the maximum, but we are using one, maybe two test sites, probably using outdated methods.

The point is, we should be testing 500-1,000 people a day in order to get a handle on the problem we are dealing with. We may well find that we have thousands of infected people and no infrastructure to deal with that.

On a related matter, I heard the Minister of Health, during a press conference, demanding that infected people should not use the malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine as it was killing people. He obviously succumbed to fake news. New York at this time, I am told, have 100,000 units on order, and the drug is starting to show remarkable results.

Questions to the minister: Do you have this drug on order? If not, why not? And what about the testing? It pains me to have to say this, but we need outside help now, or we may well find ourselves in a catastrophic situation.

F MOUTTET

Westmoorings

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"We aren't testing enough"

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