Tobago at 65% hospital bed capacity

THA Secretary of Health, Wellness and Family Development Tracy Davidson-Celestine has called for the public to co-operate with the policies and the protocols in light of increasing covid19 numbers in Tobago.

In its Tuesday update, the division said there were ten new covid19 cases on the island. The release said active covid19 cases had increased to 53 while deaths remained at two.

In a WhatsApp voice note on Tuesday, Davidson-Celestine said 53 is the largest number ever recorded on the island.

“I think it’s important for people to understand that we have 53 active covid19 cases on the island and rapidly increasing numbers daily. This represents the largest number of positive active covid19 cases recorded in Tobago in any one cycle and this would eventually, if it continues, put a strain on all of our systems.”

She added: “And so, for me, now more than ever, we need the public to co-operate...if we are to sufficiently and effectively care for those who are most vulnerable."

Davidson-Celestine said expanding capacity is not a simple task.

"While we may be able to add a few more beds overnight, the time would come when we are just not able to provide any more spaces to isolate those positive cases.”

She said should the numbers continue to increase at the present rate, the parallel health care system could be overwhelmed.

“And so currently, we are at 65 per cent in terms of our bed space capacity, therefore we need to be more vigilant and ultra careful as a people."

The secretary said people must not take the virus for granted.

“None of us know how covid19 would affect us if we were to contract it and so it is never wise to assume that we would recover. As a consequence, now is not the time to do our own thing, we just have to assume that everyone has covid19 – this is the mindset that we have to adopt, and we have to stay as far as possible from others and of course to pay attention to surfaces that may easily be contaminated.”

On Tuesday, TT recorded six covid19 deaths and 235 cases. The figure took the national active total to 2,689.

This comes one day after epidemiologist Dr Avery Hinds said if numbers of covid19 cases continue to increase at the present rate, the parallel health care system would be overwhelmed within ten days.

Hinds said this was a great cause for concern and the trend needed to be reduced.

Principal Medical Officer Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards said the seven-day rolling average was now at 233 people per day. She said 14 new cases were being admitted to hospital daily, but only six were being discharged.

She said the parallel system was now at 48 per cent, with 260 people in hospital. She said a hospital stay could last from three-21 days depending on how ill the patient is.