Since my last post four weeks ago, we have had 2,720 new cases of COVID-19 and 46 deaths, with 4,888 unique tests for the virus reported. This brings the totals to 4,570 positive cases, 76 deaths and 28,388 samples taken to date. The death rate appears to be 1.66% which is quite low.
I have been hearing more and more the phrase “They not telling the truth” when talking about the statistics being presented by the Ministry of Health in the thrice weekly COVID-19 briefings. So I have been asking questions about some stories as told by people well known to me, and who I trust as reliable sources.
Back in November 2019, a group of people, who I have known for years, returned to Trinidad from a trip to China. Many of them came down with the flu while on the trip, when they visited the province next to Wuhan. This is where COVID-19 is reported to have started in December 2019 (maybe earlier?). The odd thing was that they were advised by a local not to show any signs of sickness before boarding their flight, as they would not be allowed on the plane. They thought no more of this, but most of the group were ill for weeks afterwards, a couple of them very seriously so. No one went to a hospital or quarantined themselves and eventually all recovered. Could they have been the first Trinis to suffer from COVID-19? Is it possible that the Coronavirus was in Trinidad since last year?
If so, then there would have been sick people turning up at hospitals and even dying. Yet my post for week 12 showed that, in fact, we had fewer than normal patients presenting with respiratory illnesses. What do you think?
There have also been mix ups in the test reporting. For example, a friend told me how she and her family had to go into self-quarantine. They had spent time with an ex-pat friend who was just released from state-managed quarantine. He had just returned from abroad and was given his final two tests at the end of the 14 day internment, but was released before the results came through. A couple of days later, he got the news that he was positive. So he and his family, and my friend’s family, started a 14 day self-quarantine while he got himself tested again. No one from the Ministry of Health ever contacted him. This last test was negative. The next day he got the full report of his original test which stated it was ‘inconclusive’. So a lot of anxiety and 7 days spent in extra isolation for the families for nothing.
I know someone who started showing symptoms of the virus on August 31st 2020. She carried on going to work and eventually took the test for COVID-19 on 5th September. She signed the quarantine form shown here but still went into work on 7th September to book leave. She did not tell her employers or most of her family or neighbours that she may be positive because she was afraid of being stigmatised. She subsequently became very ill, had difficulty breathing, lost sense of taste and smell, etc., and is currently still recovering. Her daughter, who lives with her, also came down with these symptoms though not quite as badly. Both intend to go back to work next Monday, 5th October.
The thing with this story is that, contrary to what the CMO tells us should happen, no one called her to follow up on her illness. So she was never monitored by a health official, or contact traced, or police checked for quarantining. To date, she has not received her test result. Could she have spread the disease to work mates or others when she was moving around? Her daughter never got tested. They resisted the idea of being hospitalised as they felt that they got better care at home where they were more comfortable and safer. How many more people have followed the same route and are not registered in the statistics?
Another person told me this week that his brother, who is a marine engineer, is currently in quarantine at the Hilton Hotel along with his shipmates. It seems that there were positive cases identified on board their ship and it is being completely sanitised. Are they included in the statistics?
I know of two couples who went on a ‘staycation’ at a guest house last weekend. One of the individuals became ill while there. Both households and persons who were in contact with the group members had to go into self-quarantine until that individual’s test results (done privately) came back negative, thankfully. This was a close call and a reminder that anyone outside of your household (or even within) could pass the virus to you.
I have heard of cases where whole families came down with the virus, most not tested. They moved to a holiday home and self-isolated until they were better. I’ve had more than one person acknowledge that the Hyatt Regency was used as a temporary hospital for those rich enough to afford it, since those patients didn’t want to go into a state facility.
I just heard of a business that tested all their staff for Coronavirus antibodies. Two had a high percentage of antibodies though they have no idea when they got the disease. As most people are asymptomatic, are we well on our way to getting herd immunity?
Can you share similar experiences? As always, stay safe.
