Deyalsingh warns counties Caroni, Victoria ahead of Easter weekend as covid19 cases still high

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh is pleading with residents of counties Caroni and Victoria to maintain covid19 protocols during the upcoming Easter long weekend, as they continue to lead with the highest concentration of covid19 cases in the country.

He said this during the ministry’s covid19 media briefing on Wednesday.

“We cannot help but notice that county Victoria has always been that county with an abnormally high number of cases nationally.” He said Victoria accounts for about 50 per cent of the current active cases, and Caroni comes in second with 16 per cent of cases.

“This is a worrying statistic. Combined, they account for nearly 80 per cent of cases in the country. We need to focus on county Victoria and Caroni to assist us by modifying their actions post the lifting of restrictions.”

Deyalsingh also warned the wider public to do the same, saying people need to be more aware of their actions.

“Protect yourself, the elderly, your home, and the hospital system. We don’t want the post-Easter period to be one where hospitals report higher occupancy.”

Deyalsingh said the watchwords for the days ahead should be heightened vigilance and personal risk assessment.

“Too many businesses have suffered through lockdown. We don’t want to go back there, and hopefully we will never go back.”

He said while measures have been lifted, it is important to remember the virus is still active and some countries are still seeing record numbers.

“The issue facing us now is how do we conduct ourselves so as not to regress.” Deyalsingh recommended personal, organisational, and family responsibility-based individual risk assessment.

Epidemiologist Dr Avery Hinds also said the current epidemiological week 14 has seen a 15.4 per cent increase compared to epidemiological week 13. He said the ministry is monitoring the increase as it may be indicative of more cases to come. He said the slight increase could be attributed to the additional movement as restrictions have been lifted.