rishard.khan@guardian.co.tt
The total number of people to be infected with the COVID-19 virus in Trinidad and Tobago rose to 4,570 yesterday, as the Ministry of Health confirmed there were 39 additional infections.
The infections came from 352 samples submitted to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), University of the West Indies and other local sites for testing.
Despite these new cases, the number of active cases dropped to 1,865 after 69 patients were released from the ministry’s care. Ten were discharged from public health facilities while 59 were released from home isolation under the category of “recovered community cases.” This refers to people who were previously COVID-19 positive and in self-isolation at home before meeting the discharge criteria and being released. The releases made it 2,629 people who have recovered from the virus locally since the first infection was recorded on March 12.
As of the ministry’s 10 am update, there were 114 positive patients receiving treatment at hospitals. There were 66 warded at the Couva Hospital, with six people in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and five in the High Dependency Unit (HDU). There were three people at the Arima Hospital, all of whom were warded in the ICU. Caura Hospital had 39 patients, there were three at St Ann’s, one at the Scarborough General Hospital and two at the Scarborough Regional Hospital. There were 10 patients in Step-down/Transition Facilities awaiting discharge -six at UWI’s Debe campus and four were in Tobago.