Dr Hinds: Illegal migrants not stressing covid19 resources

RECENT influxes of illegal Venezuelan migrants into Trinidad and Tobago are not stressing resources allocated to combatting the covid19 pandemic. Epidemiologist Dr Avery Hinds gave this assurance at the Health Ministry's virtual news conference on Wednesday.

"No. There have not been any strains on the resources or the systems in place for dealing with covid19, as a result of the influx of any of the migrant issues that have arisen in the past few days."

Referring to a report that last Sunday, a Venezuelan national at the heliport in Chaguaramas had tested covid19-positive, Hinds said the ministry could not add anything further to what the Defence Force already said about it.

He added that "the necessary protocols had been observed."

Hinds said the person who tested covid19-positive was separated from other detainees at the heliport, and all the protocols for those people who were in primary contact with that person had been followed.

Earlier in the briefing, Hinds said there are 758 active covid19 cases.

"Of these 671 are in home isolation, 29 are in step-down facilities, 42 are in hospitals."

Of the patients who are hospitalised, Hinds said 25 were at the Couva Multi-Training Facility, one in the ICU; eight at Caura Hospital; two at St Ann's Hospital; and seven at the Scarborough Regional Hospital.

In terms of step-down facilities, 16 patients are at the Claxton Bat Correctional Facility and 13 at the UWI Penal/Debe campus.

Hinds also said the average number of new covid19 cases now stands at 28 per day. He was optimistic that it would decline further once people adhere to the covid19 protocols.