PM: India's virus surge, a chilling reminder to Trinidad and Tobago

THE Prime Minister on Saturday said renewed surges of covid19 pandemic in India serve a chilling reminder to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the world that vigilance against the virus cannot be lowered for any reason.

Dr Rowley was diagnosed with covid19 on April 6 and has been in quarantine at the Prime Minister's official residence in Blenheim, Tobago since then.

In a post on his Facebook page, Rowley said, "How easy it is for this dangerous virus to overrun any situation." Referring to the events taking place in India, he said, "Our thoughts are with the people of India who have been very kind to us." He added, "Let us not get tired of trying to fight off this virus. This is what pandemic conditions can be. Please be responsible. Nobody is exempted from this scourge."

On April 13, Trinidad and Tobago received a donation of over 40,000 AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine from the Indian government. Those vaccines are the second batch of India Covishield vaccines received by this country.

In early February, the country received 2,000 doses as a donation from Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley out of 100,000 doses donated to her country from India. This sparked a clash between Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar over Persad-Bissessar writing to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to request a donation of covid19 vaccines for TT.

In March, Rowley at a virtual event, said Trinidad and Tobago would not go “begging” for vaccines as gifts. Rowley said he had no confirmation from India of 500,000 vaccines available to the region, as alleged by Persad-Bissessar. The matter was resolved after a meeting between Browne and Indian High Commissioner Arun Kumar Sahu. He thanked Rowley and Browne for the gratitude they expressed to the Indian government for receipt of the Covishield vaccines. Sahu underscored the ongoing strong ties between Trinidad and Tobago and India. He also thanked Persad-Bissessar for her letter to Modi.

Two weeks ago, Trinidad and Tobago received the first 33,600 of the 100,800 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Covax facility. The remainder of these doses are expected sometime in May.

A BBC report on Saturday said the number of covid19 deaths across India rose by 2,624 in the 24 hours to Saturday, up from 2,263 on Friday. The report said, Indian hospitals say their patients are dying because of a shortage of oxygen as covid19 case numbers and deaths set new records for a third day running. India has recorded nearly a million infections in three days, with 346,786 new cases overnight into Saturday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the situation in India was a "devastating reminder" of what covid19 could do.