Trinidad Records First Coronavirus Case

THE first case of the coronavirus, also called the Covid-19, is recorded in Trinidad and Tobago.

This was confirmed by the Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh at a press conference his office on Thursday.

The patient has been identified as a 52-year-old male who flew in­to the coun­try from Switzer­land on Mon­day.

He said the per­son has been in self-iso­la­tion and will be transferred to the Caura hospital.

Deyalsingh said, “At 2.45 pm to­day we got con­fir­ma­tion of our first case of coro­n­avirus from CARPHA (Caribbean Public Health Agency.)”

He said the per­son con­tact­ed their health­care pro­fes­sion­al on Wednes­day and CARPHA to­day con­tact­ed him and said, “We have our first case of COVID-19.”

The min­is­ter said the man’s fam­i­ly was in iso­la­tion and that con­tact trac­ing be­gan since Wednes­day.

Deyalsingh noted that it was a mild case.

The an­nounce­ment came one day af­ter a 52-year-old woman died in Guyana from the virus and St Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica recording one and two cases respectively.

Before the announcement, the Health Ministry issued a release stating that 50 peo­ple were test­ed for coro­n­avirus in TT and none were positive.

And Caribbean Air­lines revealed that a pas­sen­ger who trav­elled on Saturday on BW 521 from John F Kennedy, In­ter­na­tion­al Air­port, New York to Pi­ar­co In­ter­na­tion­al Air­port, Trinidad in tran­sit to BW 526 from Pi­ar­co In­ter­na­tion­al to Ched­di Ja­gan In­ter­na­tion­al Air­port, Guyana sub­se­quent­ly test­ed pos­i­tive for COVID19 at a pub­lic health fa­cil­i­ty in Guyana.

A release stated, “Caribbean Air­lines as­sures all stake­hold­ers that the safe­ty, se­cu­ri­ty and good health of its cus­tomers and em­ploy­ees is its high­est pri­or­i­ty and when the in­for­ma­tion on the pas­sen­ger was re­ceived, im­me­di­ate ac­tion was tak­en.”

It stated: “In ac­cor­dance with es­tab­lished pro­to­cols the Pub­lic Health Au­thor­i­ties have ad­vised that as a pre­cau­tion, the 13 crew mem­bers as­so­ci­at­ed with the flights be placed on self-quar­an­tine for a pe­ri­od of 14. This was done, and the em­ploy­ees will be as­sessed and mon­i­tored by the Pub­lic Health Au­thor­i­ties in keep­ing with the di­rec­tives from the Min­istry of Health.”

The Health Ministry has issued guidelines for the public:

• Wash your hands properly with soap and water
• Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if water and soap are not available
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze
• Dispose of tissue immediately after using
• Cough and sneeze into the crook of your elbow if you do not have a tissue
• Avoid touching your face
• Stay home if you are ill
• Avoid close contact with people who have flu-like symptoms

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