[UPDATED] Covid19 takes young person’s life

RYAN HAMILTON-DAVIS and PAULA LINDO

ACTING Principal Medical Officer Maryam Abdool-Richards has warned younger people that covid19 does not discriminate, as she announced the youngest recorded death due to the virus in the country as being a person under the age of 25. There were unsubstantiated reports that the victim was an 18-year-old who had diabetes.

During the Ministry of Health’s covid19 virtual press briefing on Wednesday, Dr Abdool-Richards announced that a death which was recorded as of 4 pm on October 27 was that of a patient under 25.

Although she did not give the specific age or the pre-existing condition the patient had, she said he or she came from “a very young age group.” The patient died between Monday and Tuesday. Richards, while extending condolences, warned younger people to take the virus seriously.

“While the last death was an exceptional circumstance and the person had pre-existing conditions, this is a warning to our population that covid19 strikes all people. No age group is immune to the illness or the mortality from covid19.” There has been a concern in general among doctors over how seriously young adults take the spread of the virus.

House officer at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex Dr Jaeon Bobb believes that one of the reasons why is because the people who are more severely affected in most cases are the elderly.

“My advice would be to take the precautions seriously,” Bobb said. “It may not affect you but you could contribute to spreading it to the community and even at your home.” Younger people, he added are still capable of being severely affected whether they have pre-existing conditions or not.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the virus could affect younger people even after they have recovered. Young adults with covid19, including athletes, can suffer from myocarditis or inflammation of the covering of the heart. In rare occasions, younger people could also suffer from severe heart damage.

Young adults with respiratory and pulmonary diseases and those suffering from obesity are also at risk of severe reactions to the virus. But former health minister Fuad Khan dismissed the concern as “fear-mongering.”

“The Ministry of Health officials are focusing on death and using this to lock down the place,” Khan said. “Let people be responsible for their own decisions. Let them take precautions on their won. If someone has comorbidities and is of a susceptible psyche, well then take your precautions. The whole country, the whole economy does not have to pay for it.”

Khan called for more messages around taking precautions, rather than a press conference by “people who want to lock you down,”

“They need to have a better outreach education programme but putting these people on the TV and radio everyday, which nobody listens to anymore, is really and truly not helping the situation.”

According to the health ministry, up to October 25, there had been no deaths in the under-30-years-old category in either men or women. As of the same date, men in the 25-years-and-under age range comprised 8.1 per cent of the positive cases, while women comprised 8.9 per cent of the positive cases in the same age range. Patients 25-years-and under totalled 17 per cent of the total number of positive cases.

This story was originally published with the title "TT's latest covid19 fatality is under 25" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

Acting Principal Medical Officer Maryam Abdool-Richards has warned younger people that covid19 does not discriminate, as she announced the youngest recorded death due to the virus in the country.

During the Ministry of Health’s covid19 press briefing on Wednesday, Dr Abdool-Richards announced that the one death which was recorded as of 4 pm on October 27 was that of a patient under 25.

Although she was unable to give the specific age or the pre-existing conditions that the patient had, she said he or she came from “a very young age group.” The patient died between Monday and Tuesday.

Richards, while extending condolences, warned younger people to take the virus seriously.

“While the last death was an exceptional circumstance and the person had pre-existing conditions, this is a warning to our population that covid19 strikes all people. No age group is immune to the illness or the mortality from covid19.”

The Ministry of Health said the number of deaths due to covid19 is still 106. Most of the fatalities were elderly people with pre-existing conditions.