COVID deaths recorded in Jamaica, Trinidad and Belize

Story via CMC – Trinidad and Tobago’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Roshan Parasram Wednesday said there has been a decline in the number of people tested for the coronavirus (COVID-19) even as the country continues to record more deaths and positive cases from the virus.

Dr. Parasram told the Ministry of Health news conference that based on the weekly reports received from private and public health care centres, health officials were doing an average of 600 to 700 swabs per day, but that figure had declined to 400 to 500 daily.

In August, there was a high of about 1,000 tests per day.

“We swab people that present to us with viral symptoms, at the health centres and primary health care setting, that is at hospitals and emergency departments”, he said.

“Last week there were about 450 per day for the entire week, while weeks prior to that were 6-700. In August and middle of September was a little bit higher almost 1000 per day at its maximum. We are trying to swab as many people as we can.

“Once they come in with any viral symptoms no matter how mild they may be. There has a decrease in number of swabs consequent on the number of viral illnesses that are being seen,” Dr. Parasram said, noting however that people with more severe illnesses are swabbed in a higher ratio.

“People can refuse swabbing and they have. In a lot of instances, they have refused to be swabbed for whatever reason. We try our best to swab everyone that presents with viral illness. But swabbing is voluntary”, he said.

Latest figures released here show that the number of deaths from the virus is now 75 with 4,517 people testing positive and 1, 852 being active cases.

In Jamaica, the country recorded six more COVID-19 deaths, pushing the tally to 107. The authorities said they are investigating four more fatalities, increasing that figure to 10.

They said that those who have died over the past 24 hours were between the ages 52 to 77 years old with two women among the victims of the virus.

The 74 new cases were recorded with ages ranging from two months to 87 years, increasing the total to 6,482 with 4,419 of them active.

Belize is reporting two new deaths and 52 positive cases of the virus over the past 24 hours.

“Unfortunately we have two more deaths to report, both were in the Orange Walk District, a male and a female. The female was in her 70s who had been previously admitted at the NRH and the second was in a male in his 60s who had just been admitted to the hospital today and whose diagnosis was made post mortem,” the Ministry of Health said.

Belize now has 26 deaths and the number of positive cases is 1,943 with 692 active cases.

According to the Ministry of Public Health, 17 new cases of Covid-19 in 48 hours in Haiti, have pushed the total to 8,740 cases with 1,756 being active. The death toll remains at 227.

Source: CARICOM TODAY