Govt sorry for covid19 deaths

Ninety per cent of the people who died from covid19 deaths had underlying health conditions, health officials reported said on Saturday, commenting on the record of seven deaths in one day on Friday.

By Saturday afternoon, one more person, an elderly male with co-morbidities died of covid19, bringing TT’s total to 51.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and other health officials addressed the issue during a press conference hosted by the Prime Minister at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s.

Caura Hospital medical director Dr Michelle Trotman said the most common comorbidities in those who died were hypertension, obesity and diabetes. In a few cases, there were people who died under the age of 50, or with no comorbidities.

She said some of those patients had happy hypoxia, where their oxygen levels were low but they felt happy and well. Some of the 50 deaths occurred because patients felt well and removed the oxygen prescribed to them.

She explained that some covid19 patients suffer with problems that make their oxygen levels low which made them feel tired, listless and have symptoms such as shortness of breath and chest tightness.

“Unfortunately what we have seen is a couple of our patients, a number of our patients, is as they begin to receive this oxygen and they begin to feel better, they take the oxygen off. And when they take the oxygen off, what happens is the cells that require it, unfortunately suffer and can die. Some of those 50 have done that.”

Deyalsingh said while TT’s death rate was well below international standards, it was nothing to celebrate as 50 families and their friends were in mourning.

He, Trotman, and the Prime Minister expressed their condolences to the families of those who died.

Dr Rowley said,“Fifty in the context of the almost one million persons in the world is a small number but it’s a big number at the personal level. It is somebody’s father, somebody’s grandfather, somebody’s uncle, somebody’s neighbour, some community’s respected and loved person. And every time someone passes on from this virus, it aught not to be seen as arithmetic, just a number. It’s a community and a nation at loss and in pain.”

He said those families had the additional trauma of not being able to have a funeral as people were accustomed in order to “bring closure” to their death.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram said approximately 0.21 per cent of the population was affected with covid19, so about 99.7 per cent of the population was still “naive” to the virus.

Rowley added that although 99 per cent did not have the virus, it was still new to the human population and no one knew the end result. He said people had to live with it, fight it, and overcome it. And the first step was to prevent covid19 from spreading further by physical distancing and wearing masks.

“I am still trying to understand why there are people in TT who firstly believe that God’s going to give us a pass and this virus that is heading to 30 million people in the world, will not bother us, and will not bother me, and I could do as I please, and like the frog on the hill, I have the rights to deny this and the rights to be condemned.”

He said “strong and healthy” people threaten others’ lives by infecting older people with comorbidities who could die from the virus. To reiterate the point, Deyalsingh said several elderly people who died had physical or mental incapacities and had not stepped out of their homes for two to five years, “but the virus went home and met them.”

“So we are asking the population to think before you engage in risky activities. Be responsible.”

Epidemiologist Dr Avery Hinds added, “Anything that brings different webs of social circles together, no matter how small, is a risk. That’s why we’re asking persons, whether you’re in public or in your private settings, to avoid the gathering altogether. Because when you bring networks together, one person has it, they can pass it to a whole new network, it can get into a whole new home.”

Rowley said there was no treatment for covid19, and no vaccine for the virus was “around the corner” and encouraged people to stop the spread of the virus by being disciplined and following public health guidelines and regulations.

Testing and mental health

Parasram confirmed there were people in at St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital who tested positive for covid19. He said he spoke to the North West RHA CEO and a team consisting of the hospital’s chief of staff, the infection prevention and control department, and Occupational Health and Safety was assembled to ensure there was no further spread in the facility. But there was contact with others before the results were determined.

Deyalsingh added that a site was set up at the hospital so any mental patient with covid19 could be housed away from the hospital’s general population.

With regard to testing, Deyalsingh said the PCR machine at the South West RHA (SWRHA) activated on Wednesday, two days ahead of schedule. Operators were doing one run at 94 tests a day. By next week, he expected two runs to be completed and eventually three.

Parasram said with the new machines at SWRHA, North Central RHA and Medical Research Foundation, the three should be able to do a total of 1,287 tests per day. With an average of 700 swabs coming in per day, he hoped the increased capacity would soon clear the backlog of tests and allow for on-the-day results to be generated.