Trinidad and Tobago at critical covid19 juncture

THE EDITOR: The arrival of the delta variant and the subsequent surge in cases we are now experiencing should be no surprise.

The revelation by Ministry of Health officials that the parallel healthcare system, specifically designed to treat with the pandemic, is bursting at its seams, is worrisome news.

The headline in Newsday earlier this week, Covid ICU Beds Filled, reflects the state of the parallel health system and must surely be of concern to healthcare workers and citizens alike. This is especially so in the face of the reopening of many services in the past few weeks, and the reopening of schools for forms four-six students on Monday – all increasing the opportunity for the spread of the virus.

Doctors have now been placed in the unenviable position of having to play God, by having to choose who gets an ICU bed and who doesn’t.

Eighteen months into this pandemic we are now informed that a mere 57 ICU beds are currently available for our covid19 patients. In view of the billions spent in the battle against the pandemic, the question must now be asked, how much of this money went into securing additional ventilators, into engaging ICU and HDU nurses and into securing additional resources required to provide additional ICU care?

The true numbers of people infected continue to elude us because testing was insufficient due to Government’s limited capacity earlier and the delay in approving testing at private institutions.

Reasons for the failure of the Minister of Health to allow and facilitate over-the-counter test kits, which can greatly increase our testing capacity and guide behaviour, remain a mystery.

How prepared is Government to deal with this latest surge especially with the increasing number of people infected with the delta variant?

Trinidad and Tobago stands at a critical juncture in the battle against this pandemic, a battle which has to be fought in the hospitals to save lives, and also in the field, to prevent or limit the spread of the virus.

This battle has to be stepped up in our hospitals, by providing the best care available to ill citizens. I call on the Government to ensure that more is done to increase ICU capacity to give critically ill patients a fighting chance.

A large number of citizens remain unvaccinated, including unfortunately, many who are now occupying ICU beds. I call on the Government to redouble their efforts to identify unvaccinated individuals and reach out to them by way of education and other meaningful strategies to get them on board.

In the end a higher proportion of vaccinated individuals may turn out to be the most effective weapon in this battle against the pandemic.

DR LACKRAM BODOE

MP, FYZABAD