Deyalsingh rubbishes rumours of covid19 in family

PNM candidate for St Joseph and Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh denied claims on Monday that his daughter-in-law had been in contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus but was not placed in self-quarantine.

A voice note circulating on social media said Deyalsingh's son and daughter-in-law attended a wedding in Tobago over the weekend and a wedding decorator had tested positive for covid19.

The reports also alleged that several doctors among the guests at the wedding were quarantined, while his daughter-in-law was allowed to return to Trinidad to vote.

Speaking with reporters outside the Cipriani Labour College after he voted on Monday, Deyalsingh said his daughter-in-law only learned that someone at the wedding had contracted the virus when she returned to Trinidad, and quarantined herself.

"The video is wrong on many factual counts. My daughter-in-law did in fact attend a wedding in Tobago, but she was not quarantined with the group of doctors at Rovanel's (Resort), she was by herself.

"When she came back to Trinidad at around 2 pm yesterday (Sunday), she was then informed of the situation, and by 6 pm they were in self-quarantine and they will not be voting."

On the voting process, Deyalsingh said the system was safe and smooth and was pleased with the protocols in place to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.

"It was a no-touch system as far as the officers there were concerned, you had to handle all of your documents yourself. The touch points, like the stamps, were unique to each person. The process itself took no more than five minutes."

On the election, Deyalsingh said he felt he waged a clean campaign, and accused his political opponents of practising dirty politics.

He said such tactics had no place in St Joseph and were unbecoming of someone who wanted to lead.

"My opponent engaged in so much character assassination it's not funny, bringing my personal life into the issues.

"We don't do that in St Joseph with the PNM, and at the end of the day, good will triumph over evil. This is St Joseph, a very religious, family-oriented constituency and I know a lot of people, especially the independents, were totally disgusted by the type of negative campaign that my opponent ran."

Asked what would be his next move if he did not win the seat, Deyalsingh said he did not believe in losing and was optimistic of a PNM victory.