(Trinidad Express) Trinidad and Tobago has hit a grim milestone with the death of its youngest Covid-19 patient.
The deceased patient, a woman with pre-existing medical conditions, was under the age of 25.
She died on Monday.
The death has prompted Ministry of Health officials to again warn that no one is immune to contracting Covid-19 or dying from the virus.
Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards, acting Principal Medical Officer in charge of institutions, revealed the news at yesterday’s Covid-19 virtual news conference.
She indicated the patient died between Monday’s and yesterday’s news conference.
On Monday evening, the ministry’s Covid-19 update noted a woman with pre-existing conditions died from the virus.
“While this was an exceptional situation and circumstance and the person had pre-existing medical conditions, this is a warning sign to our population that Covid-19 strikes all persons,” Abdool-Richards pointed out yesterday.
“I would like to express condolences to the family of this patient, and our sympathies to them,” she added.
She said in the interest of patient confidentiality, she could not reveal the patient’s exact age or any other information, including what pre-existing medical conditions the patient suffered from.
However, she again stressed the importance of proper mask wearing, hand hygiene, sanitisation of the home and workplace, and social distancing in situations where there is a gathering of people.
“Let us avoid parties and get-togethers at this point in time. Remember, even if you are healthy and you think you do not have pre-existing medical conditions, you will be exposed and expose your close family members and friends who may have co-existing medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and other lung disorders,” Abdool-Richards said.
Since Covid-19 arrived in Trinidad and Tobago in March, 107 people have died from the virus.
One more death was reported yesterday.
More than half of the deaths occurred among patients over the age of 60.
According to epidemiological data from the ministry, from July 20 (start of second wave of the virus) to September 13, 68 per cent of the deaths occurred among positive patients over the age of 60.
The data also noted 83 per cent of the deaths during that period involved men.
T&T has recorded 98 Covid-19 deaths and 5,457 positive cases since the second wave of the virus started.
So far this month, there have been 23 Covid-19-related deaths.
Sixteen of those deaths involved patients over the age of 60.
Significant room in ICU, HDU
Abdool-Richards noted there is significant room for Covid-19 patients in the intensive care units (ICU) and high dependency units (HDU) of three hospitals—Couva, Arima General and Augustus Long.
“It is essential to note that we are looking at the ICU and HDU capacities at our hospitals as a measure of the resilience of the parallel healthcare system,” she said.
She said the ICU capacity across the three hospitals is currently at 11 per cent while the HDU capacity is at 23 per cent.
“We have significant room in both of these categories of care, which should assist us in managing Covid-19,” Abdool-Richards said.
According to the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 update yesterday, three patients are currently in ICU and six in HDU at the Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility.
There are no Covid-19 patients at the Arima General and Augustus Long hospitals.
Face-to-face extra lessons not advised
During yesterday’s news conference, Abdool-Richards advised teachers against conducting face-to-face “extra lessons” for pupils.
Responding to a media query, she noted the ministry recommended that any activity that promotes the mixing and congregating of people should be avoided.
“We don’t just refer to lessons or classes for students but also other activities such as parties and anything that can be avoided,” she emphasised.
“We have to use digital methods. This is the way that we have been progressing. With regard to lessons for students, we understand and appreciate the situation that parents may be in, given online schooling and the need for remedial teaching for our students.
“But we would like to advocate that teachers employ digital methods such as Zoom classes and digital teaching in place of the usual or traditional lessons system, which really promotes commingling and congregation of persons, and can increase the risk of transmission of Covid-19 to our students and, by extension, their parents, grandparents, and persons who are at high risk of basically suffering the complications of Covid-19,” Abdool-Richards said.
