Central family challenge quarantine in Caura

A mother from central Trinidad is demanding that she and her two children should be released from quarantine from the Caura Hospital.

She and her family, including her husband, tested positive for covid19 and were taken to the Caura Hospital on April 1.

On Tuesday, attorneys for the woman and her two children – nine and 19 – challenged the regulations under which they are being detained and asked for them to be released from quarantine by 9 am on Wednesday, or they will file habeas corpus applications on behalf of the family.

The family tested positive at the Mt Hope Hospital. Arrangements were made for them to be taken to Caura Hospital. They were taken there on April 1 and the next day taken to the Couva Hospital and back to Caura.

The attorneys said they were given a document to sign acknowledging that the woman would be quarantined for observation and treatment. The document was signed by a health officer on behalf of the Quarantine Authority, who is Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram. It also said the CMO had the authority under the Quarantine Act and its regulations, the Quarantine (Maritime) Regulations and the Maritime (Air) Regulations to order them quarantined.

She and her family are still detained at Caura under unsatisfactory conditions.

The attorneys for the family say the power vested in the CMO to detain people is contingent on statutory preconditions being satisfied.

The attorneys, in their pre-action protocol letter, said the regulations under which they were isolated did not give the health officer the power to justify the initial detention of the mother and her two children, neither does it give lawful justification for continued detention.

They said the three had no travel history, so neither regulation 38 or 15 can be relied on for continued detention. The letter said based on these conditions the entire period of detention has been unlawful.

Newsday understands, however, that the woman’s husband travelled.

“While one can understand that these unprecedented times require unprecedented action on the part of the executive, they do not and cannot eliminate the fundamental requirement that any action taken by the executive must be lawful and constitutional.

“History has shown in these moments of public emergency the temptation is greatest to forgo and undermine guaranteed rights in the interest of expediency and perceived public interest.

“It is in these times that the guardian of constitutional compliance must be most vigilant to protect the rights and freedoms guaranteed to each and every one of our citizens under the constitution,” the letter added.

The letter that each member of the family was given, which they did not sign, directed that they were to be quarantined at a designated facility for observation and treatment.“You are not allowed to leave the designated facility or the precinct of the area designated for your stay during this period," the letter said.

It also warned that if they did not comply they would be liable on conviction to fine and imprisonment. The patients were told that during their quarantine period, they would be supervised by clinicians from the North Central Regional Health Authority. “If you develop a further complication such as a fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficult breathing you will require appropriate medical intervention and extended hospitalisation,” the letter said, adding that they would be required to wear the prescribed PPE and follow all directions at the facility.