CMO: Population density correlates with covid19 cases

CMO Dr Roshan Parasram said the densities of people in the various counties is related to the number of cases of covid19 in each county.

Speaking at Wednesday’s health ministry media briefing, Parasram said the counties with the lowest population, Nariva/Mayaro and Tobago, had 2.1 per cent and 3.5 per cent of the cases respectively, and populations of less than 50,000 people.

St Andrew/St David, with a population between 50,000 and 100,000 people each, had 8.7 per cent.

St Patrick and St George Central, with populations of 100,000-200,000 people, had 7.0 per cent and 13.6 per cent respectively.

St George West, St George East, and Victoria counties, with populations of 200,000-240,000, had 10.9 per cent, 16.1 per cent, and 21.9 per cent respectively.

County Caroni, with a population of 240,000-242,000, had 16.2 per cent.

The population densities were based on 2010 data.

He said of the people isolated at home, excluding those in St George Central, St Patrick and St David, 48.5 per cent had comorbidities, while 51.5 per cent did not.

These were broken down into:

hypertension 32.4 per cent

diabetes 23.2 per cent

other 22.6 per cent

asthma 13.8 per cent

pregnancy 3.2 per cent

heart disease 2.9 per cent

immune deficiency 1.1 per cent.

The gender distribution was 49.9 per cent female and 50.1 percent male.

The age distribution showed peaks between 20 and 59, with very low levels otherwise. He said this was a function of the ages of those who would be going out to work.

The CMO said an additional 4,000 pulse oximeters had been received and the aim was to have them distributed by the end of the week.

He said there were between 350 and 400 rooms in state quarantine facilities which could be used for repatriated nationals.

“Sometimes if you have positive cases in particular facilities, you need some time before you bring the other cohort in, so there’s variance somewhere between 350 and 400 at any given time.”