Well, it seems that we not only beat the Coronavirus in T&T but we also beat other infectious viral diseases like influenza and gastro-enteritis, as the chart above illustrates. All this physical-distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing may actually wipe out the common cold! To see a good statistical representation of how we ‘flattened the curve’, see https://trinidadexpress.com/coronavirus/. This also shows graphs for other Caribbean countries.
For articles praising T&T on their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic see:
– https://medium.com/@indica/how-trinidad-tobago-got-covid-all-out-33bc10d99a8
– https://buzz-caribbean.com/news/covid-19-watch-trinidad-now-among-caribbeans-coronavirus-free-countries/?fbclid=IwAR1w0apFqrvo2aN-p7bd3ALDRtvjwJraUZnX6aRB-NmRkX8O3CL1w-Vxnbw
We are now in Phase 3 of reopening after lock-down, with Phase 4 expected to happen next week. This means that shops, malls and all businesses are open, but we are still required to take precautions like wearing face-masks and limit groupings of people to five only. The next phase will see the reopening of hair salons and spas, and allow housekeepers to return to work. Can’t wait for these to happen! I believe the fifth phase will see the opening of beaches, bars, cinemas, indoor dining, concerts, sports, and other ‘risky’ events. The final phase will be the opening of our borders, but I don’t see that happening until there’s a safe way to do that.
There has been only one new COVID-19 case since my last posting 4 weeks ago, and that was a returning Trini who is actually in the recovery phase of the disease. The Minister of Security is working to allow in hundreds of nationals who are crew stuck on cruise ships, and this is taking up most of the available space for state quarantines. The parallel health system set up at the start of the pandemic is empty, as there are no active cases. I wonder what they did with the Cuban ICU nurses they brought in some weeks ago.
Despite the reopening, my life has not changed much. My leisure activities are still online and I’m still nervous when I have to go grocery shopping. I wonder how long this fear of the virus will last. There are very few social gatherings (at least that I’m invited to) so there’s no reason to go out, no reason to buy clothes, no reason to have fun it seems. I enjoy travelling and my delayed trip to Patagonia seems to be a distant dream.
At least we are healthy, even more so than ever. It appears that God really is a Trini. I hope you are all keeping safe, wherever you are!
