Covid19 cases now 101, old-age homes told to stop visits

HEALTH Minister Terrence Deyalsingh declared, "No place on earth, no matter how remote is immune from the virus (covid19)."

He said so as it was announced that 101 people are positive for covid19, one more than last reported by the Health Ministry at 10 pm on Friday.

In an update on Saturday morning, the ministry said the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has tested 728 samples and 101 were positive. The number of deaths remain six and one person has been discharged. Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said out of the 101, 49 people were from a cruise ship from which they returned to TT last month.

At a virtual news conference on Saturday, Deyalsingh said special attention is being paid to the 3,000 to 6,000 elderly people in old-age homes in TT.

Noting some of these homes are not registered, Deyalsingh said guidelines will be issued next week to all these homes to protect their residents from the pandemic. He explained these guidelines include stopping all visits to these homes unless the visits are absolutely necessary, limiting the number of people who visit the homes, spacing out the residents in the homes and people taking their relatives out of these residences and keeping them in their homes where possible.

Deyalsingh said the increase in global statics of more than one million cases demonstrated that the serious of the spread of the virus. He gave the example that the Falkland Islands (located in the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina), with a population of 2,840 people has recorded its first case of covid19.

He said this should shock the people of TT to follow the Government and health authorities' advice to "stay at home, stay safe."