Rishard Khan
rishard.khan@guardian.co.tt
Two additional COVID-19 deaths have been recorded over the last 24 hours. The Ministry of Health Confirmed the figure in its updates today.
This brings the total number of people to die from the virus locally to 58.
The recent fatalities are one elderly male with co-morbidities and an adult male. These deaths make 50 for the second phase of infections locally which began on July 20 with case 139. Of these, 28 have been recorded for September.
Despite the recent deaths, T&T remain tied with Guyana for the fourth-highest deaths in the Caricom region. Haiti remains at the top of the ranking with 220 deaths followed by Suriname with 95 and the Bahamas with 69.
There are now 3,327 people to have tested positive for the virus locally since March 12 after 104 cases were recorded yesterday and brought the number of active cases to 2,459.
According to the ministry’s 10 am update, 2,133 patients have been home isolated under the continuous monitoring of the respective County Medical Officer Health (CMOH) offices.
The Ministry of Health, however, noted that the recent figures are not representative of a 24-hour increase as it included results from samples taken as early as September 24.
The delayed figures are the result of a backlog of samples which the ministry has been trying to clear.
During a virtual press conference yesterday, Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh indicated that so far, only 0.24 per cent of the country’s population has been infected with COVID-19 but urges that as the ministry tries to keep that number low, citizens need to do their part and take some “personal responsibility.”
He particularly pointed out that young people needed to have some restraint and limit social gatherings to prevent the further spread of the virus; especially at a time when the ministry’s main objective is to reduce the country’s transmission classification from community spread to cluster.