The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily 4pm update this afternoon (Friday 16th April 2021) that there are sixty-four (64) additional COVID-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago. This represents a 21.95% decrease in reported cases from yesterday. These new patients will be processed for admission at the discretion of the CMOHs.

The Ministry reported eighty-two (82) new cases yesterday along with two (2) more unfortunate deaths. The country’s death toll remains at 150 at this time. T&T’s total positive cases now jumps to 8,742, with 712 being active cases. A total of 7,880 patients have recovered from the virus to date. 560 persons are in home self-isolation and there are 327 persons in total at State quarantine facilities.

A total of 15,425 persons have been vaccinated across T&T to date.

The Ministry states that of the sixty-four (64) new positive cases, one (1) is a recently repatriated person. Further, the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during the period 13th - 15th April 2021 and not the last 24 hours.

The Ministry also notes that there are currently eighty (80) COVID-19 positive patients being treated at Hospitals and eight (8) patients are in step-down/transition facilities - all at UWI, Debe.
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This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

The 60-year-old Princes Town man has died following a blood clot and partial paralysis from the waist down, days after taking the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. He died shortly after 10pm last night (Thursday 15th April 2021), according to his nephew, Faleel Ali. Ali said the family was expecting the worst as the man's condition had deteriorated further.

The man’s funeral takes place at 3:30pm this afternoon according to Muslim rites. He was a retired Local Government Regional Corporation Health Inspector and was warded at the San Fernando General Hospital for the past week. He underwent heart surgery about a decade ago.

His medical condition since last week, and subsequent death, is a controversial issue as his family remains adamant that he was healthy prior to taking the AstraZeneca vaccine last Wednesday (7th April 2021) at the Princes Town District Health Facility. According to his family, by Friday his body became partially paralyzed from the waist down. A CT scan at a private institution was conducted, which revealed a blood clot was blocking a main artery. The man was then rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital where his condition quickly deteriorated. X-Rays, Ultrasounds and countless blood samples were also taken.

The family shared photographs of the man's body with Trinidad Express which showed that his body from the waist down to his toes, turned black in colour.

However, Chief Executive Officer of the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA), Dr. Brian Armour said there was no evidence to show a link to this man's condition and the vaccine. The SWRHA advised in a Media Release on Wednesday (14th April 2021) that following a preliminary clinical investigation of the circumstances, “there is no evidence the patient's condition is linked to the vaccine. Any report to the contrary, is therefore inaccurate and greatly misleading.”

Ali has pleaded with authorities to not cover up his uncle's condition, but instead take action to ensure that this does not happen to someone else.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Roshan Parasram, admitted during the Ministry of Health’s virtual Press Conference on Wednesday that there seemed to be a causative link between the vaccine and blood clots. He said there are some studies coming out of the European group where there were seventy-nine (79) cases of a cluster of diseases that occurred in Germany and some other countries in Europe a few weeks ago.

Dr. Parasram said these cases have been investigated by the European Medical Agency as well as the World Health Organization (WHO), which is in the process of doing their final report on that particular cluster. He noted, “It is a thrombotic syndrome which causes a drop in your platelets to an extent you have bleeding, and you have a clot formation within the arteries. So generally speaking, it is an extremely rare side effect I would say of this particular vaccine.”

[Source: Trinidad Express]

The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily 4pm update this afternoon (Thursday 15th April 2021) that there are two (2) more unfortunate COVID-19 related deaths in Trinidad and Tobago, plus eighty-two (82) additional cases. This represents a small 3.53% decrease in reported cases from yesterday. These new patients will be processed for admission at the discretion of the CMOHs. The latest deaths are both adult females with multiple co-morbidities.

The Ministry reported eighty-five (85) new cases yesterday as well as two (2) deaths. There have now been four (4) deaths and 167 new cases reported between yesterday and today.

The country’s death toll has increased to 150. T&T’s total positive cases now jumps to 8,678, with 685 being active cases. A total of 7,843 patients have recovered from the virus to date. 520 persons are in home self-isolation and there are 331 persons in total at State quarantine facilities.

​A total of 13,087 persons have been vaccinated across T&T to date.

The Ministry states that of the eighty-two (82) new positive cases, three (3) are recently repatriated persons. Further, the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during the period 12th - 14th March 2021 and not the last 24 hours.

In its latest update, the Ministry notes that four (4) persons have been discharged from public health facilities and there have been twenty-one (21) recovered community cases. Recovered community cases refer to persons who were previously COVID-19 positive and in self-isolation at home, and subsequently met the discharge criteria and were released from self-isolation.

The Ministry also notes that there are currently seventy-eight (78) COVID-19 positive patients being treated at Hospitals:

• 54 at Couva.
• 5 at Caura.
• 19 at Scarborough Regional.

Among the patients at Couva, five (5) are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and five (5) are in the High Dependency Unit (HDU). There are also currently five (5) COVID-19 positive patients in step-down/transition facilities - all at UWI, Debe.

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

In a Media Release on Wednesday afternoon (14th April 2021), the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) said it has taken note of media reports of yesterday and today, in which the relatives of a patient alleged a correlation between the administration of the COVID-19 Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine shot and a thrombus (blood clot), experienced by the patient.

​A 60-year-old man from Princes Town is now fighting for his life after re­ceiv­ing the Ox­ford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vac­cine last week. The man, a retired Health Inspector, is suffering from partial paralysis resulting from several blood clots and his family is blaming the vaccine he took last week.

The SWRHA advised that following a preliminary clinical investigation of the circumstances, “there is no evidence the patient's condition is linked to the vaccine. Any report to the contrary, is therefore inaccurate and greatly misleading.”

The SWRHA further stated, “However, consistent with our general protocol, the Authority has shared the information with the patient's next of kin and will continue to provide excellent medical care. The SWRHA continues to invite our valued patients and clients to contact our Customer Care Centre at 87-SWRHA (877-9742), for any matter in relations to healthcare.”

The Ministry of Health revealed in its daily 4pm update this afternoon (Wednesday 14th April 2021) that there are two (2) more unfortunate COVID-19 related deaths in Trinidad and Tobago, plus a staggering eighty-five (85) additional cases. This represents a 21.43% increase in reported cases from yesterday. These new patients will be processed for admission at the discretion of the CMOHs. The latest deaths are both adult males with multiple co-morbidities.

The Ministry reported seventy (70) new cases yesterday. Due to the ongoing surge in cases, several new restrictions are going into effect from Midnight tonight and will last for twenty-one (21) days in the first instance.

The country’s death toll has increased to 148. T&T’s total positive cases now jumps to 8,596, with 630 being active cases. A total of 7,818 patients have recovered from the virus to date. 474 persons are in home self-isolation and there are 247 persons in total at State quarantine facilities.

A total of 11,686 persons have been vaccinated across T&T to date.

The Ministry states that of the eighty-five (85) new positive cases, one (1) is a recently repatriated person. Further, the number of positive cases reported reflects the samples taken during the period 11th - 13th April 2021 and not the last 24 hours.

In its latest update, the Ministry notes that there have been nineteen (19) recovered community cases. Recovered community cases refer to persons who were previously COVID-19 positive and in self-isolation at home, and subsequently met the discharge criteria and were released from self-isolation.

The Ministry also notes that there are currently sixty-six (66) COVID-19 positive patients being treated at Hospitals:

• 38 at Couva.
  
• 6 at Caura.
  
• 2 at St. Ann’s.
  
• 20 at Scarborough Regional.
  

Among the patients at Couva, five (5) are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and four (4) are in the High Dependency Unit (HDU). There are also currently five (5) COVID-19 positive patients in step-down/transition facilities - all at UWI, Debe.

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

40,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, which were donated by the Government of India, arrived in Trinidad and Tobago at 10:22pm last night (Tuesday 13th April 2021).

A Media Release from the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs stated, “This was as a result of the gracious response from the Honourable Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Republic of India to a letter sent by Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on 23rd February 2021. This further strengthens the longstanding relationship between the Governments and people of both countries.”

Senator the Honourable Dr. Amery Browne, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, officially received the donation from His Excellency Arun Kumar Sahu, High Commissioner of the Republic of India, at the Piarco International Airport. The Honourable Terrence Deyalsingh, Minister of Health was present to witness the ceremonial handover of the vaccines.

These World Health Organization (WHO)-approved vaccines will be transferred to the Ministry of Health and added to the current stock of COVID-19 vaccines which are being used to inoculate the population.

Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs further said, “The Goverment of Trinidad and Tobago will continue its efforts to safeguard the health of the population, through the application of public health measures, including the provision of approved COVID-19 vaccines that are both safe and effective.”

​At a virtual Press Conference this morning, Min­is­ter Deyals­ingh said the sec­ond phase of the vac­cine roll­-out is sched­uled to start this Sat­ur­day (17th April 2021) with the vac­ci­na­tion of es­sen­tial work­ers. This group in­cludes Par­lia­men­tar­i­ans and their spous­es, se­nior Pub­lic Of­fi­cers, Po­lice and Fire Of­fi­cers and mem­bers of the De­fence Force.