Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram says the process to introduce additional testing facilities for COVID-19 across Trinidad and Tobago is moving swiftly.
During Saturday’s virtual media briefing updating the country on the situation, Parasram said, “We already have the kits and equipment required. We have already begun the training of staff. We are in the process of having the validation exercise completed with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), so in about a week’s time we will complete that process.”
Regarding the sentinel testing scheduled to begin this week, where samples will be collected from one health centre in every medical county, Parasram added, “That has begun and it is happening in all eight counties in Trinidad and it has begun in Tobago as well.”
He explained that the random sampling of the population was to be used to find out what types of viruses are circulating at any given time and would also indicate if there were any cases outside of the case definition being used for COVID-19.
The clinical update as of yesterday afternoon revealed that of the 1,330 samples submitted to CARPHA for testing so far, there were 114 positive cases, eight deaths and 21 discharge,s with the latest patient having left the Caura Hospital on Friday.
A combination of 60 people remain hospitalised at the Couva and Caura Hospitals, with ten said to be in a stable condition at Caura and 49 ambulatory cases at Couva, with one person in the High Dependency Unit.
Recapping how testing is being done locally, Parasram said when a patient is tested at a public health facility with signs/symptoms that meet the clinical case definition, a nasal swab is done and the sample is first sent to the Trinidad Public Health Lab and then to CARPHA for the PCR test to be done.