MSJ: Is Trinidad and Tobago the sickest country in the world?

MSJ political leader David Abdulah.
MSJ political leader David Abdulah.

“Is Trinidad and Tobago the sickest country in the world?” the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) has asked as the number of covid19 deaths crossed the 3,000 mark.

On Sunday, the MSJ’s political leader, David Abdulah, demanded an explanation, since the Health Ministry has not contradicted the findings of Johns Hopkins University on the death rate per million of covid19 deaths, suggesting that TT's was the highest in the world.

Abdulah said, "We need a proper explanation."

“We have to get some real answers. We have to hold the ministry accountable. We need to know if we are the sickest country in the world.”

Abdulah said he was reluctant to accept what the figures were saying, since this country had a better health care system and vaccination programme than other countries in the Caribbean which had a lower death rate.

“We need to know exactly what is going wrong. Why are so many people dying?”

Abdulah also said the death rate suggested covid19 was not being properly managed.

“It can’t be that our comorbidities – diabetes, hypertension, obesity – are that much worse...We need some real answers about the management of persons who are ill.

“Is your data analysis correct?”

He also questioned the classification of covid19 deaths and further suggested there was a breakdown in the testing and contact tracing of positive patients.

Abdulah said there was a delay in getting the results of PCR tests from public health facilities, with the wait being as long as two weeks. This, he said, sometimes led to members of a household who might be asymptomatic continuing to go about their business as usual, spreading the virus.

He again called on the Government to engage private-sector laboratories to assist with urgent testing.

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"MSJ: Is Trinidad and Tobago the sickest country in the world?"

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