Covid19 care review committee gets 3-week extension

The covid19 care committee has been granted a three-week extension to hand in the report requested by the Prime Minister.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh made the announcement during the ministry’s virtual press conference on Wednesday. He said committee chair Prof Terrence Seemungal had made the request to the ministry, which had passed it on to the Prime Minister, who had granted it.

He added, “We at the Ministry of Health are not micromanaging the issue. It has to be a fair, transparent, independent issue.

"I did not ask for details as to why (he requested the extension), but I imagine he wants to do a very thorough investigation and he is acting independently of the Health Ministry.

“What I did was indicate to the PM, because this is the PM’s initiative, that they needed an additional three weeks, and the PM agreed to it.”

Dr Rowley announced the formation of the five-member committee to review the working of the country’s health system as it relates to covid19 care on January 15. He said the team would present the results of the review within a week, on January 21.

Prof Seemungal is dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the UWI St Augustine Campus. The committee also includes consultant anaesthetist and intensive care specialist Prof Emerita Phyllis Pitt-Miller; former chief medical officer Dr Anton Cumberbatch; consultant anaesthetist Dr Vidya Dean; and director of the Caribbean Centre for Health Systems Research and Development Prof Donald Simeon.

Deyalsingh also said other qualified personnel would be invited to be part of the committee as needed.