Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr. Keith Rowley on Thursday assured there was no need to change COVID-19 protocols, impose new restrictions, cancel Carnival, or close the country’s borders despite an increase in cases and hospitalizations.
He asserted that the population is now highly immune, with about half vaccinated and a large portion of those unvaccinated population having been exposed to the virus and therefore acquired natural immunity.
However, he stressed the importance of personal responsibility, especially during Carnival next month.
“The country’s open but there’s COVID out there. Take personal cover, you know what you can do the list of things that you can do. Do those things that you can do,” the Prime Minister urged at a press conference with health officials on Thursday morning to update the country on the COVID-19 situation in the twin-island republic.
At a press conference on Thursday morning, health officials reported that between January 2 and 9, there were 406 new cases and eight deaths were reported January 2-9.
Professor of molecular genetics and virology at UWI, Christine Carrington, also reported said that four cases of the Omicron XBB 1.5 variant, the most transmissible variant of COVID-19 yet, have been detected.
However, Prime Minister Keith Rowley suggested the situation was one that could be handled through vaccination and people doing the right thing to prevent spread of the virus.
“The situation in Trinidad and Tobago at this time does not warrant an intervention outside of those basic provisions…. We are facing the prospect of increases in terms of infection levels, and you would have heard from Dr. Carrington that we do have in Trinidad and Tobago, as usual, everything that exists outside in the wider world. We are, therefore, not approaching this phase of existence by trying to shut out that which is already with us.
Addressing the question of the upcoming Carnival, the prime minister said: “The nature of Carnival is meeting and mixing. We do not believe that the situation warrants us to not have Carnival, but we believe that it warrants us taking personal decisions about your exposure to minimize instances of requirements for healthcare delivery to you”.
Principal medical officer Dr. Maryam Abdool-Richards also advised persons participating in Carnival activities to be “personally responsible” and to take the best measures to protect themselves.
During her presentation, she disclosed that there had been an increase in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization since last month, noting that 90 percent of them were not fully vaccinated and they had significant comorbidities.
As of Thursday morning, there were 71 patients in the parallel health system, including five requiring intensive care and two pediatric cases.
CMC/
