By Chantalé Fletcher
THERE is no Covid-19 Outbreak at the Scarborough General Hospital (SGH), however, there is a cluster of cases.
This according to a release from the Tobago Regional Health Authority on Thursday.
The TRHA stated that the presence of Covid-19 clusters had been observed “from time to time at some medical facilities on the island,” but has ensured the public that regular sanitisation practices are implemented.
Officials stated that clusters are fairly common in large organisations and medical facilities all around the world.
“Since the start of the pandemic, there has been clusters of Covid-19 cases from time to time at some medical facilities on the Island,” the TRHA stated.
It added that the “Scarborough General Hospital (SGH) has about 1,200 staff spread across the facility and there is a cluster of 18 Covid-19 cases at the moment.
“All protocols have been observed for sanitization, testing, contact tracing, isolation and monitoring, as is the norm. Due to the rapid antigen testing initiated on the Island, the situation was able to be quickly managed.”
The TRHA emphasised on the importance of upkeeping thorough sanitization practices, “When a case is identified, wards are sanitized along with all relevant health protocols.
“Usually, when a case is identified, all protocols kick in, from sanitization to swabbing. Wards are regularly sanitized, and each bed is sanitized after a patient is discharged.”
Covid- 19 response team member in the Office of the County Medical Officer of Health (CMOH), Dr Anthony Thompson made reference to the index case in the clusters presented.
He was speaking at the Tobago Division of Heath, Wellness and Family Development virtual presser on Thursday.
Dr Thompson explained that the situation involved a person, who had been admitted to the ward for symptoms unrelated to covid but was discharged but while at home developed a fever.
He said, “That person returned to the facility and was re-presented where they now were identified as Covid positive. So even though the situation may have been exiting since last week, the index case wasn’t identified as such, until Saturday and then everything was mobilised and brought into action.”
