Duke: Covid19 management a 'total failure' in Tobago

The increase in covid19 cases in Tobago – 103 cases in the last two days – is of concern to political leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) Watson Duke.

Speaking on Friday in a Facebook live broadcast during an interview on TTMCTV's morning programme Brighter Morning with Bhoe, Duke said it meant total failure.

“I’m very much concerned about the rise of covid19 cases and the rise in covid19-related deaths on the island. To me, it spells of total failure by the PNM (People’s National Movement) -led holdover THA executive. Tracy Davidson, who is the one responsible for health, wellness and social services or family life, who is also the political leader for the Tobago PNM arm, is doing a very bad job.”

He complained that Davidson-Celestine had "mixed both the people who are healthy and those who are sick – that to me is something that is causing the spread of the disease in the hospitals in particular, and they are not doing sufficient to make Tobago unique. Tobago is a different place from Trinidad, Tobago ought to come up with its own standards and not rely upon Trinidad for its standards or policy direction.”

He said Tobago ought to have meetings of its major stakeholders and listen to the ideas, distil them, and implement the best idea for Tobago.

“What we have in Tobago is a Trinidad solution for a Tobago problem – that to me cannot work. It's like wearing your father clothes or your mother clothes. It just can't fit. We need a bespoke approach, a tailor-made approach, we need something like that.”

He compared Tobago with other small islands: "Grenada, St Vincent and these places – it is small, small...they have full control. They don’t have an imported solution, they have full control, they have something that is tailor-made for their country.”

He said with a PDP government, different can be expected.

"One thing we would do is to always engage stakeholders and have the widest margin of participation – we call it participatory democracy. In our political organisation, we practise the highest level of democracy, so we could have anybody who disagrees with me in the organisation, and they are not thrown out, they are not sent to the cleaners – we share different views.”

He does not support calls for mandatory covid19 vaccinations.

Asked if he has been vaccinated, Duke said no.

“I believe in vaccination," he added. "I have not been vaccinated. I believe vaccination could help us prevent the contracting of several viruses, etcetera and it can preserve life.

"What I do not believe in the mass vaccination or the mandatory vaccination of persons with a drug, with a vaccine, for emergency use only – emergency use vaccines are for emergencies only.”

As of Friday, there had been 4.34 million deaths worldwide in the pandemic, and 206 million cases.

The THA Division of Health, Wellness and Family Development said 15,661 people in Tobago have received at least one dose of a covid19 vaccine and 10,846 people have received their full two doses. The target is 45,000.

There are 598 active cases and there was one additional death.

There were 39 patients in state isolation, 557 in home isolation and two in the ICU. Five patients were discharged.

The division said of the 11,466 people who have been tested for the virus, 1,797 were positive.