The woman who reportedly left the Scarborough Hospital on Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19 claims she was not told about her status nor was she informed that she could not leave the hospital.
In fact, the woman claimed, it was she who called the police to pick her up after advice from her grandmother.
But the police report stated otherwise, saying the woman knew she was COVID positive, refused to sign the quarantine form, and that he boyfriend signed his form using a dead relative’s name.
The woman, who lives in Trinidad, said she quarantined for two weeks after returning from England and visited Tobago on April 5 to attend a harvest celebration.
The woman, who cannot be named because of COVID patient confidentiality principles, told Guardian Media she did not have flu-like symptoms. She said she went to the hospital for swollen legs but was given a COVID test because of her recent return from England. She said she was given a Lasix injection to reduce the swelling and visited the public bathroom, under the hospital’s COVID testing tent, often. She was free to go to other parts of the hospital and mingle with patients and staff without anyone indicating she should remain isolated.
She also claimed she got fed up with waiting at the hospital from 9 am to 6 pm without information and decided to leave with her boyfriend, who was told to quarantine for two weeks.
The woman also claimed that when she got to her boyfriend’s place, his grandmother told her she should also quarantine.
She said it was then she contacted the police and ambulance to take her to the facility.
However, the police have a completely different take on the details of events.
Officers said the woman had “escaped, left the hospital against advice” and had to be pursued.
Police said her boyfriend allegedly impersonated a dead relative, signing the relative’s name on his quarantine form while she refused to sign the document.
The police report stated the woman said she only left the house to visit the hospital.
Officers eventually took the woman to Tobago’s COVID facility at Scarborough.
Guardian Media reached out to Health Secretary Tracy Davidson-Celestine, via WhatsApp, for an explanation on the operations of the COVID facility at the hospital.
We asked what procedures are in place when a suspected COVID patient is tested and receives the results. However, up to news time, she had not answered.
The questions were subsequently emailed to her communications department.
Meanwhile, yesterday saw the number of COVID positive cases in Tobago rise to 20 active cases. Five new cases were reported yesterday.