Two more people died of COVID-19 in Tobago, bringing the total number of COVID- related deaths to 39.
A 62-year-old woman without comorbidities and an 81-year-old man with comorbidities died on Monday night, according to the latest information released by the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA).
According to the woman’s children, their mother Ingrid George, of Plymouth, who recently retired from the Kendall Farm School, was “healthy and just had a runny nose.”
They said they expected her to return home after she went to the hospital seeking attention. They are now warning the public to take all flu-like symptoms seriously.
One daughter, who works at the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT), said she believes she took the disease home to her mother.
She told Guardian Media, some of her co-workers contracted the virus and when she began feeling ill, she tested for the disease.
“On July 11, mom began having a runny nose. She hardly left the yard, I was the one going out to work. Mom would wet her plants and attend to them. She was healthy. She retired from the Kendall Farm School two years ago. She was never sick,” the daughter said.
“When the flu continued to stay on her, she spoke to a church member who had COVID before. He told her to get tested. She was due to get tested but got ill after she discovered I tested positive for COVID,” her daughter told Guardian Media.
She said after she told her mother she had tested positive for the disease, her mother began worrying and became quite ill.
Another daughter, Andrae George, said their children are now badly affected by their grandmother’s passing at the Scarborough Hospital at Signal Hill.
The family said they will now consider taking the COVID vaccine and reminded the public that even after taking the jab, people must still follow COVID protocols.
They said they see vaccinated co-workers, friends and family still not adhering to COVID protocols, putting themselves and others at risk for getting the disease.
“It’s a personal choice, so when I feel better, I will decide if I will take the vaccine. We still have to follow all the protocols like hand washing and social distancing after we take the injection as I have seen people let down their guard after getting their two shots.”
According to the TRHA, as of Monday at 10 pm, there were 38 new COVID cases in Tobago. A total of 11,376 people took the vaccine, of which 9,405 got two doses.
