Covid mayhem as 13,085 infected, 326 die in last month

THE month of May saw Trinidad and Tobago record its worst figures in covid19 infections and deaths since the virus was first detected in March last year.

In the first week, there were 1,896 new cases and 27 deaths. This climbed in the second week to 2,659 cases and 69 deaths. By the end of the third week, there were 12,814 cases and 310 people were dead.

At the end of the month on Monday there was a total of 13,085 new infections and 326 new deaths. This was reflected in the Ministry of Health’s daily update which put the overall infection figure since March last year at 23,909 with 495 deaths.

Among the grim statistics were 21 and 23 covid19 deaths being reported on May 13 and 18 respectively.

The highest number of new infections in a single day, 708, was reported on May 21.

These figures were reported during the period after a state of emergency (SoE) was declared to help curb rising cases and deaths.

Names and faces

May was also significant in that more names and faces were being put to the statistical data. Families of many who died were finally comfortable enough to speak about their experiences with losing loved ones to the virus.

These included 38-year-old Mahindra Nigel Ramkalawan and his father Premnath, 66, who died hours apart on May 5 and 6 in Siparia. Newsday staff also mourned the deaths of 41-year-old page planner Jennifer Mahadeo who died on May 7, days after her father Deonarine Mahadeo, 76.

Survivors also came out of the shadows and spoke about how they overcame covid19 including Newsday’s reporter Grevic Alvarado of Venezuela.

PM announces SoE

At a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre on May 15, the Prime Minister announced an SoE would be in effect from midnight that night. An associated daily 9 pm-5 am curfew went into effect from May 16.

The SoE would have run until May 30 without parliamentary approval. The House of Representatives sat on May 24 and agreed to an extension of the SoE until August 30.

To further restrict public movement and risk of covid19 spread, Dr Rowley announced on Saturday that the curfew would be adjusted only for the Indian Arrival Day and Corpus Christi public holidays on Monday and Thursday respectively. He said the 9 pm-5 am curfew would remain in effect for all other days.

On Sunday, Commissioner of Police (CoP) Gary Griffith said, "The holiday curfew hours for Monday May 31, and Thursday June 3, shall be 10 am-5am the following day – those being the public holidays of Indian Arrival Day and Corpus Christi respectively."

The details of the adjusted curfew times were explained in the Emergency Powers (Variation of Curfew Times) Order 2021, approved by Griffith.

Before the SoE's declaration, additional public health regulations were announced by Rowley on May 4. This included the closure of all restaurants, food vending and retail business, except for essential businesses such as pharmacies, supermarkets and bakeries. On May 22, he said those regulations would continue until July 4.

In response to reports that some restaurants were breaching the regulations by preparing pre-packaged food and sending them to essential businesses for sale, Rowley announced amendments to the regulations on May 29 to eliminate this activity.

Parallel health care system under strain

The increase in cases last month, also put the parallel health system, established to deal with covid19, under strain.

At one point, the system had reached 84 per cent occupancy. Principal medical officer in charge of institutions Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards said the Caura Hospital was at 89 per cent occupancy, the Couva Hospital at 75 per cent, Augustus Long Hospital at 95 per cent, Arima Hospital at 93 per cent and St Ann’s at 100 per cent. The new Point Fortin hospital was added to the system to help with the influx of patients.

On May 6, Abdool-Richards said the trend of the increasing deaths is “very disturbing and very concerning.

“We are not just seeing deaths amongst the elderly population and persons with pre-existing conditions, but we are seeing deaths even among the age group of the 30s."

Vaccination drive continues

As covid19 infections and deaths surged, there was also news of additional shipments of covid19 vaccines arriving in TT. Government received 16,000, 8,000 and 10,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from St Vincent and the Grenadines, Bermuda and Grenada in May. Also arriving last month was the first shipment of 100,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China.

On May 29, Rowley said additional vaccines will be coming, starting in June. He said the Government made "two substantial payments" for vaccines. Rowley said he was confident that within the next six-eight weeks, there will be a flow of vaccines to "keep us busy" in the covid19 vaccination programme.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the programme will be accelerated and the administration of the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccines begins next Monday.

The ministry said as of 4 pm on Monday, 94,671 people have been vaccinated with one dose and 1,179 people have been fully vaccinated with two doses.

Communications Minister Symon de Nobriga and Caroni East MP Dr Rishi Seecheran expressed concern about the numbers of people who were infected with covid19 and died from the virus last month.

De Nobriga told Newsday, "I think the data drives home the fact that as citizens we need to adhere to the advice that has been coming from the medical professionals, the Minister of Health and the Prime Minister.

“We need to limit our movements, wash our hands regularly, watch our distance from others and wear our masks."

Caroni East MP Seecheran said, "It is concerning – a death (for) every 43 covid19 positive cases.

"We have to determine if this number is high because of lack of access to advanced medical treatment or if it is due to the more aggressive P1 Brazilian variant."

Seecharan opined that the numbers of covid infections and deaths last month may be the result of  a combination of both factors.

"ICU (intensive care unit) and HDU (high dependency) beds are in high demand and oxygen requirements are being severely strained.

"Many persons are also only presenting to hospital in an advanced phase of covid19, making medical treatment more difficult and complex.”