By Sue-Ann Wayow
OF the 52 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds allocated for Covid-19 patients in the public healthcare system, 51 are currently filled.
This is according to the Ministry of Health’s Principal Medical Officer Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards.
Speaking at the Ministry of Health’s virtual press conference on Wednesday, Dr Abdool-Richards also said there were seven persons at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) sections awaiting ICU care and none were fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
On Saturday and Monday during the ministry’s health conferences, the PMO had given updates regarding the occupancy at ICU saying that the healthcare system was edging closer to implementing a triage system which the ministry was hoping to avoid as much as possible.
She said, “This morning, yet again, there is a maximum occupancy in the parallel healthcare system. We have noted that as at 8.30am this morning, 51 out of 52 active beds in the parallel healthcare system are occupied.”
The percentage of the Covid-19 vaccination status was 98% not fully vaccinated with 50 out of the 51 patients in ICU not fully vaccinated she said.
Referring to the patients needing ICU care from the A&E departments, Dr Abdool-Richards said the seven represented 30% requiring ICU care of the 24 patients awaiting transfer into the parallel healthcare system.
She said, “These seven persons who are our relatives, our neighbours, our friends, require ICU care now because of the clinical status or how ill they present to the A&E department.
“Our doctors have noticed that persons are presenting to the A&E department very ill, in a state that they require ventilation and other supported treatment in the A&E department and in some cases, they may be too unstable to actually move in the short term.”
The Ministry of Health will continue to do all it can to effectively treat Covid-19 patients, the situation continues to be monitored and there will be increased capacity as required, Dr Abdool-Richards added.
She reminded that although physical space may be available “a bed is not just a bed” and other resources including human resource will be required as the issue of ICU bed shortage was an international one.
Again, she urged the population to become vaccinated, the main measure in combating the adverse effects of the virus.
Referring to staffing, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said, “There are little more healthcare professionals anywhere in the world.”
He said it would be difficult to relocate staff for Covid-19 while disadvantaging the many patients who are in need of care that were not Covid-19 related.
The minister said that when Covid-19 cases had decreased, the field hospital at Jean Pierre Complex was taken off the system while the one at the Couva Hopsital remained in place.
However, now that cases were again increasing, that field hospital will once again be operational.
