Chantalé Fletcher
TRINIDAD and Tobago has the highest number of patients ever in the parallel healthcare system designed for Covid-19 patients.
This was revealed by Principal Medical Officer of Institutions Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards, who spoke at the Ministry of Health virtual press conference on Wednesday.
Dr Abdool-Richards said that across the facilities in the parallel healthcare system, there were 543 patients in the hospitals and 206 in step-down facilities.
She said there has been a steady increase in in-patient admissions since October 19, 2021.
Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards added that there has been a continuous increase in the net admission over the last three weeks.
She said, “Since October 19, we have noticed an increased rolling average and an increase in hospitalisations. The net number of admission over the last five days in the parallel healthcare system has been 112 versus 153 for the seven days previously.”
Dr Abdool-Richards said, “Given the average number of persons that were admitted into the parallel healthcare system per day, we believe this trend would note a consistent increase beyond the 153 by the end of this reporting week.”
She said accident and emergency (A&E) departments witness a daily increase in the number of critically and severely ill patients.
Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards said, “As of 7 am this morning (Wednesday), there were 169 persons across four A&E departments in Trinidad receiving medical care. However, of those, there were approximately 32 ICU level patients receiving medical care.”
She said many of the ICU patients in the A&E department were admitted too late and that their clinical status has been deemed unstable.
“If clinically stable, we transfer them to a hospital in the parallel healthcare system. However, since October 19, 90% to 100% of the ICU-level patients in the traditional A&E were not fully vaccinated,” she said
She also said generally 87% of people in the A&Es were not fully vaccinated.
“There were also 67 operational ICU beds in the parallel healthcare system in Trinidad, but 58 out of the 67 were filled, while there were nine beds in Tobago while six were filled,” the doctor said.
Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards said a facility in Lowlands, Tobago has been added to the parallel healthcare system.
