Suriname 69 test negative for covid19

The 69 TT nationals who came in from Suriname and are being quarantined at the UWI Debe Campus have tested negative for covid19.

The group, who returned to TT last Friday, were tested on Saturday. They are under a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

The men said despite some initial hiccups at the facility, everything was sorted out and they had no complaints.

“Everything is good.” Their families are allowed to bring them meals and they said they are allowed to exercise and move about relatively freely at the Debe facility.

Jade Boodoosingh, one of the 69, who are mainly oil and gas workers working in Suriname, extended a special thank-you to those who helped them get back home.

“We are comfortable here, but I want to extend a special thank-you to certain people.”

He thanked Newsday and AZP News “for telling our story.”

“I also want to extend a heartfelt thanks to attorneys Mr Gerald Ramdeen and Mr Umesh Maharaj for taking up our plight and their persistence with the government to repatriate us.

“The journey seemed never-ending. Nevertheless, we are back on national soil,” Boodoosingh said.

He also thanked the nurses, medical staff, and the regiment officers at the Debe facility.

“So far we have been treated well. I want to thank them for volunteering their time away from their family to lend assistance to other families, in this time of need,” he said in a letter of thanks.

Last Saturday, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the testing of the 69 was being done out of an abundance of caution, and following global best practice as laid out by the Chief Medical Office,r based on their risk of exposure.

They would be treated under the same protocols that the 33 people who returned from Barbados underwent, Deyalsingh said. The Barbados 33 left the Tacarigua facility on Tuesday.