Kamla alarmed over spike in covid19 cases

UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her husband Dr Gregory Bissessar, wearing masks, leave the Hermitage Presbyterian School after voting in the general election on Monday. - Lincoln Holder
UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her husband Dr Gregory Bissessar, wearing masks, leave the Hermitage Presbyterian School after voting in the general election on Monday. - Lincoln Holder

United National Congress political leader Kamla Persad Bissessar has expressed concern about the “alarming daily increase” in positive covid19 cases.

On Friday, in a statement on her Facebook page, she said the situation required serious precautions to curb the deadly virus, especially since it would further stress the country’s “failing public health care system” and put the lives of citizens at risk.

She encouraged people to be mindful and obey all the public health guidelines and regulations “at all costs”, including the wearing of masks, sanitisation and physical distancing.

“I am also quite surprised that the Health Ministry has not yet comprehensively announced any new and urgent contingency measures to protect citizens from this new wave of covid19 infections. I expect that they will see the need to do this as soon as possible, in the interest of keeping our citizens safe.

“Given their colossal failure in implementing an adequate testing policy, I especially hope that they move to swiftly ensure that they undertake a series of rapid, widespread testing of the population, to offset what is clearly an impending crisis.”

On Friday, the Health Ministry reported two people had died, the first deaths since April, which took the total to 10.

The ministry's covid19 update on Saturday morning stated there are 48 more covid19 positive cases in TT, bringing the total number of cases to 474. It said 29 cases were pending epidemiological investigation, 18 were contacts of recently positive covid19 patients, and one person tested positive at a private lab. The update reiterated that number did not reflect new cases for the past 24 hours. Rather they were results from samples taken from August 5 to 13.

One of those 48 may be a PriceSmart employee as the organisation issued a release announcing that an employee from their Chaguanas Warehouse Club tested positive. It added that the person had been quarantined and was doing well under the supervision of the Health Ministry.

It assured that potentially exposed employees were identified and followed the Health Ministry’s directions for preventive quarantine and testing; that the facility, equipment and surfaces were sanitised; and that the organisation routinely sanitises.

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"Kamla alarmed over spike in covid19 cases"

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