Rishard Khan
rishard.khan@guardian.co.tt
The country’s parallel healthcare system is now at 83 per cent occupancy with the highest number of patients hospitalised to date, according to Principal Medical Officer of Institutions Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards.
“This morning, there are 543 persons in the hospitals in the parallel healthcare system, 206 in step down facilities and so the total number of persons in the system is 749. This is the highest number of patients in the parallel healthcare system since October 19 2021 when we started noticing that upward trend,” she said.
“Our overall occupancy is now over 83 per cent and this is in spite of increasing beds on a phased basis and trying our utmost best.”
She appealed, on behalf of healthcare workers, for the population to get vaccinated. She said the numbers are enough evidence of how effective the jabs are.
“We have noticed that 87 per cent of all persons in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) in Trinidad and Tobago are not fully vaccinated,” she noted.
She said over the last 65 days, the ICU occupancy has fluctuated between 78 per cent and 94 per cent as more and more people become ill from COVID-19.
She noted that while the Ministry of Health has witnessed an increase in hospitalisations, the length of stay for patients has also increased.
“We also have the Delta variant that is now established in the community and so we have noticed that persons being admitted into our hospital are entering in a more clinically severe medical condition so they spend longer in hospitals,” she said.
“We are seeing the net effect of this which would be an increased number of persons in the hospitals in the parallel healthcare system as well as the accident and emergencies coupled with a decreased number of persons being discharged. The net effect is an increasing strain on the parallel healthcare system and our accident and emergencies as well.”
She said an additional 26-bed facility was operationalised at Lowlands Tobago last Tuesday, becoming the 16th facility comprising the parallel healthcare system.