Since my last posting three weeks ago, there have been only two new cases (total 116) of the Coronavirus reported in T&T and, thankfully, no more deaths. In fact, there is only one person here still hospitalised with the virus, with almost everyone else recovered.
As I look out my window, enjoying the view of purple, white, lilac, fuchsia and orange coloured bougainvillea, I look forward to the day when we can move around freely, even if it is in small groups, even if we have to wear face masks, and even if physical distancing is mandated. I’m looking forward to lockdown rollback! Maybe we’ll even be allowed to buy doubles and order take-aways! It would be good for the economy for low-risk businesses and organisations to start operations again.
Now that quarantine facilities are empty, our Minister of Security has given permission for some groups of stranded nationals to return to Trinidad at their own expense. 33 nationals from Barbados have now returned to their homes after a compulsory 14 day quarantine at a state location, and 69 from Suriname have nearly completed their time. We are expecting a group from Guyana soon, as well as persons stuck in Venezuela and Margarita. There are many others around the world who have applied for exemption to fly home. All have their stories – quite sad!
Trinidad & Tobago has been very fortunate with this experience … so far! We are listed as #1 in the world for rollback readiness according to the University of Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT). This provides a cross-national overview of
which countries meet four of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) six recommendations for relaxing physical distancing measures.
Today, our Chief Medical Officer at the daily government briefing explained that they have been conducting contact tracing at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels from known Coronavirus cases (all linked to foreign travel), and monitoring all individuals deemed at risk. They have not been getting many requests for testing, and far fewer than normal patients have been presenting with respiratory issues at the hospitals and clinics. It seems that all these measures are making the population healthier! As we now have a good number of complete testing kits, they have also been testing people at random in an effort to detect community spread. So far, more than 500 such tests have all proven to be negative.
Of course, we cannot get too complacent since a second wave of the COVID-19 virus would be disastrous. This virus is sneaky. Asymptomatic, infected people could be walking amongst us. My relative in the UK who contracted the virus some weeks ago told me her story:
“I was 37 weeks pregnant when I tested positive for Covid-19, the first maternity case in our area. I needed to go into hospital to be monitored for reduced foetal movements, but the day before I had a scratchy throat and by then it had turned into a very slight (barely noticeable) tickly cough. This meant as a precaution I had to go to a dedicated ‘dirty’ hospital which had a quarantined ward. I was instructed to wait in my car where a midwife in PPE brought me a mask to wear. I was then led through to the ward, the route of which had been cleared for my arrival, and instructed not to touch anything. Whilst being treated, I was swabbed for the virus and didn’t get the results for two days.
In the meantime, I went home and quickly started feeling better. So much so, when I needed to go back the next day to monitor the baby again, my extremely mild symptoms had completely disappeared and they were happy for me to return to my normal hospital. Needless to say, my results were a shock to everyone. I later found out they completed a deep clean throughout the ward I visited and thankfully the midwives I was in close contact with did not get infected.
I never got a fever and the cough never returned but I did get what felt like a normal cold that came and went for a couple of weeks, plus fatigue and a slight heaviness in my chest. I also lost my sense of smell for a while!
My husband became ill two days after me and also didn’t have a fever but he had more of a cough and wheezing due to his asthma. Again he would assume it was a normal cold and he was better within a week.
My two year old daughter woke up shivering with a high temperature about a week later but she seemed well otherwise and, after one dose of paracetamol, the fever disappeared.
As for where I contracted the virus, I have no idea. Four days before my first symptoms, and just before the UK lockdown, I had lunch with my family. My brother and his girlfriend became ill the same time I did but my 70 year old mum was fine. We will never know if they were also infected with Covid-19 but if they were then it is clearly much more rampant than people realise.
I honestly don’t know where I got it from. The lockdown only started the same week I was tested so I was going out to toddler groups and the supermarket as usual. I was using antibacterial gel and washing hands when we got home but I could probably have done better when I was out. As soon as I knew I was positive I told my brother and his girlfriend and they immediately started to self-quarantine.
On the positive side, my son was born healthy just as we completed our self-isolation. I am really hoping it also now means we’re immune. “
So here’s to “hoping for the best while preparing for the worst.”
