Man in quarantine: Wait for results stressing me out

A MAN who was put in quarantine more than two weeks ago said he has been stressed out at home waiting for his covid19 test results.

The man, who asked not to be named, has been in quarantine since September 13 after being identified as a primary contact of a covid19-positive co-worker.

He told Newsday he had a cough and some "cold" in his throat and was tested the same day at Mt Hope. He received a form ordering him to quarantine himself for 14 days and a sick-leave certificate for 14 days.

For the first four days of his quarantine he received calls from health officials, but after that he did not hear anything.

When he called the nurse he had been speaking to, she told him the quarantine period had been extended to 20 days.

He was told to send a relative to Mt Hope to collect a form for the additional six days. When the relative visited, however, a health official told him the man in quarantine could return to work.

The man called back the nurse – who said the health official was incorrect. She then met the relative and gave him the form for the additional six days. The relative was also informed that after the six days the man should return for a "fit for work" evaluation if his covid19 test results were still not ready.

He said, "To be going through this mental stress away from your job, talk of docking your salary, and you have loans to pay – the best thing is to give people their test results so they can start to function."

Newsday senior reporter Paula Lindo, who suffers from sinus issues and asthma, went to the St Joseph Health Centre to see a doctor on September 14 after having a runny nose and a slight fever for a few days, and waking up with a headache.

"After being sent to the Mt Hope Hospital, who sent me back to the health centre, a doctor asked me about my symptoms and recommended that I be tested for covid19.

"They gave me sick leave for a 14-day period and I signed a quarantine form from the County Medical Officer of Health saying I would not leave the house for that 14 days.

"On my first day at home, I received a call from someone at the health centre enquiring about my condition. That was the first and last time I heard from anyone in the health system.

"(Wednesday) is September 30, and I have not received any word on my results. I tried calling the health centre but was not able to get through with anything."

Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram, speaking Wednesday at the Ministry of Health covid19 briefing, reiterated there is a timeline generally for reporting results.

"But the reporting for positives occurs just a little bit quicker," he said, "because those individuals would be contagious, and we want to get them into a quarantine setting as quickly as we can."

He said a policy was implemented about a month ago under which, once someone is swabbed, they are asked to home quarantine as well.

"What we are trying to do is contain (the virus). So we want to make sure those individuals do receive their results in a timely manner."

He said the ministry is working very closely with the labs and the county medical officers of health (CMOHs) in both Trinidad and Tobago. He said County Medical Officer of Health for Tobago Dr Tiffany Hoyte had told him her backlog of testing was cleared.

"And she asked me to indicate that contrary to what was said (in a news report)...she did receive the backlog of reports from the Trinidad Public Health Lab.

"So we are working closely with both Tobago and Trinidad to ensure that...the results are reported quickly from the lab to the CMOHs, and of course that bigger step from the CMOH office to the physicians, so that the physicians can contact each individual patient and tell them their result."

He reiterated: "So we are trying to get that process as tight as possible, but it is happening a little bit faster with the positive as opposed to the negative."