Deyalsingh: I take covid19 committee report seriously

HEALTH Minister Terrence Deyalsingh is taking the contents of the covid19 committee report seriously, even if others, such as the Opposition UNC, do not.

To this end, Deyalsingh has discussed the implementation of some of the recommendations in the report for health care workers with the CEOs of the regional health authorities (RHAs).

He spoke during the virtual health news conference on Wednesday.

Work is ongoing on rolling out digital vaccination cards and covid19 public-sector safe-zone legislation.

No information was given on the health of Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi (who has been diagnosed with covid19 and is in quarantine at home) or a support member of the Prime Minister's delegation who contracted covid19 while in Doha, Qatar.

Dr Rowley announced the creation of the covid19 committee at a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's on January 15.

Its terms of reference are to identify the profile of the patients who died from covid19; review the definition of “covid19 death” used by the Ministry of Health for consistency with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and standard practice; and comment on the different methodologies for calculating case fatality rate.

The committee's report was laid in the House of Representatives on February 18.

Saying he took the findings very seriously, Deyalsingh described the report as balanced, acknowleging successes while identifying deficiencies and possible solutions to solve them.

"Some of the recommendations have to do with operational issues at the RHAs. The CEOs have the report. I met with them yesterday (Tuesday)."

Issues such as staff accommodation, burnout and meals for staff were discussed in that meeting, Deyalsingh said.

"Those are very important recommendations which we can look at almost immediately."

He added the deficiencies highlighted in the report "really showed up at the height of the pandemic, when systems were most strained." Deyalsingh found it difficult to fathom the Opposition's opposition to the report, he said. Recalling that the UNC was making allegations against the committee before and after it submitted its report, he said, "That is why you can never take anything that the Opposition says seriously."

He highlighted two articles, one of which quoted Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar saying the report was "a pappyshow."

Deyalsingh asked if the UNC from the outset decided the committee was a sham, what was its basis for selectively choosing things from the report to score political points on.

He reiterated, "I found the report was very balanced. It gave the whole spectrum of things that we did very well and things we can improve on."

Some of the recommendations included more being done to help prevent and manage non-communicable diseases (identified as the main contributors to severe illness and death in patients with covid19) and national policy on ICU (intensive care unit) admissions and care of the elderly.

Deyalsingh said he had spoken with Digital Transformation Minister Hassel Bacchus about the rollout of digital vaccination cards on Tuesday.

"We are doing the verification exercise."

Once this is completed, Deyalsingh said Bacchus would advise how soon the cards will be rolled out.

Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) Stuart Young first spoke about the cards at a news conference last December. He said the form of identification people used when they got vaccinated was critical to the verification exercise.

On covid19 public-sector safe-zone legislation, Deyalsingh reiterated this remains under Al-Rawi's purview. On January 8, Al-Rawi said Government was still considering stakeholder submissions on this legislation.

Last December, Rowley originally identified January 18 as the date for the rollout of covid19 public-sector safe zones. He said public-sector workers who chose not to get vaccinated by that time for non-medical reasons would be furloughed. On January 15, Rowley extended that deadline to February 17. That deadline passed and the legislation still has not been implemented.

On the health of Al-Rawi and a support staff member on Rowley's delegation to Qatar, Deyalsingh said, "I have no information I could share on the personal medical condition of anyone, whether they are in Qatar or Trinidad and Tobago."

In a statement on Monday, the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs said Al-Rawi will continue to work while he remains in quarantine as recommended by the Health Ministry.

On the same day, the OPM said an official from the energy summit delegation was in isolation and under medical supervision, while test results for other members remained negative. Energy Minister Stuart Young, National Gas Company president Mark Loquan and Caribbean Airlines chairman Ronnie Mohammed were also members of the delegation.

Rowley was diagnosed last April with covid19 and made a full recovery.

Committee members:

Chair: Prof Terence Seemungal, dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at UWI

Prof Emerita Phyllis Pitt-Miller, consultant anaesthetist and intensive care unit (ICU) specialist, and former dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI

Dr Anton Cumberbatch, former chief medical officer and public health specialist

Dr Vidya Dean, consultant anaesthetist and ICU specialist

Prof Donald Simeon, director of Caribbean Centre for Health Systems Research and Development and professor of biostatistics and research at UWI.