COVID-19 in Trinidad & Tobago (Local Updates & Discussions Only)

[Strugglerzinc]

Are they planning to increase capacity or anything in adavance due to the projected overflow of the parallel system within the 10 days?

They had at least 6 months prior to now to improve the parallel system, you expect increased capacity in 10 days?

[aaron17]

Are they planning to increase capacity or anything in adavance due to the projected overflow of the parallel system within the 10 days?

They had at least 6 months prior to now to improve the parallel system, you expect increased capacity in 10 days?

Yes?

[pugboy]

antivaxxersndoes make sure their puppies get shots ?

[R-H-D]

Essential Services Listing
We have been inundated with info, here is a list of what is considered essential at this time.

The updated Public Health Regulations (12) has been published. It will be in effect until May 23rd

I know there is some confusion about who qualifies as “essential” services and retail. Here is the full list allowed to operate as per Regulation 4(7).

“(a) supermarkets, groceries, markets, greengrocers, retail
membership discount stores, bakeries, poultry depots, fish
stalls or shops, fruit stalls or shops, vegetable stalls or shops,
“parlours” and “corner shops”, provided that not more than
fifty per cent of the establishment’s ordinary retail capacity is
surpassed at any time during operating hours;
(b) banks, financial institutions, non-banks, remittance facilities,
Unit Trust Corporation, National Insurance Board, National
Lotteries Control Board and its agents, credit unions,
insurance companies and services, brokers and capital market
companies and retail services in the processing and
maintenance of systems for processing of financial and
insurance transactions and services (e.g. information
technology, payment, clearing and settlement, wholesale
funding, insurance services and capital markets activities)
and the provision of support for financial operations, such as
services about staffing, transactions, data, technology
and security operations centres;
(c) retailers for newspapers and media houses;
(d) hardware stores including plumbing establishments and
retail electrical stores and electrical establishments in
support of the generation, transmission and distribution of
electric power;
(e) establishments that service appliances and electronics;
(f) petroleum stations and convenience marts attached thereto;
(g) establishments that support retail, sale and services of:
(i) refrigeration systems and products;
(ii) the aviation and maritime sector including aircraft,
marine vessels and the equipment and infrastructure
that enables operations that encompass the movement of
cargo and passengers;
(iii) retailers that support air transportation, air traffic
controllers, ramp personnel, aviation security and
aviation management;
(iv) the maintenance and operation of cargo by air
transportation, including flight crews, maintenance,
airport operations and other on- and off-airport
facilities workers;
(v) the repair of ships and the storage and delivery of
goods at, or from, ports, docks, wharves, storage
facilities and warehouses operated in connection with
ports, docks or wharves;
(vi) the public transportation by water-taxi, ferry, motor
vehicle, bus, including buses operated by the Public
Transport Services Corporation;
(vii) automobiles including repair and maintenance
facilities;
(viii) the management of hazardous and waste materials;
(ix) packaging and bottling of items;
(x) postal and shipping services;
(xi) food processing facilities;
(xii) livestock, poultry, seafood slaughter facilities at pet
and animal feed processing facilities;
(xiii) human food facilities producing by-products for
animal food and beverage production facilities;
(xiv) animal and fish food, feed and ingredient production,
packaging and distribution, manufacturing,
packaging and distribution of veterinary drugs;
(xv) of veterinary health, manufacturing and distribution
of animal medical materials, animal vaccines, animal
drugs, feed ingredients, feed and bedding, etc.,
transportation of live animals, animal medical
materials, transportation of deceased animals for
disposal, raising of animals for food, animal
production operations, slaughter and packing plants
and associated regulatory and government workforce;
(xvi) in support of construction relating to agricultural and
food production including land preparation and any
activity related to agriculture and/or food production;
(h) retail health services such as–
(i) public and private hospitals, laboratories, infirmaries,
nursing homes and hospices, funeral homes,
crematoria and burial grounds;
(ii) pharmacies and hospitals;
(iii) the provision of medical supplies to pharmacies and
hospitals including sanitary and hygiene products;
(iv) the provision of dental, optometric, ophthalmologic,
physical therapy and occupational therapy;
(i) retail energy services such as–
(i) IT and OT technology for EMS (Energy Management
Systems) and Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition (SCADA) systems and utility data
centres;
(ii) Cybersecurity, cybersecurity risk management and
back-up data technology;
(iii) vegetation and traffic management; and
(iv) environmental remediation/monitoring, instrumen-
tation, protection and control;
(j) establishments that support retail, sale and services in the
petroleum industries such as–
(i) petroleum stations and convenience marts attached
thereto;
(ii) petroleum product storage, pipeline, marine
transport, terminals, road transport;
(iii) crude oil storage facilities, pipeline and marine
transport;
(iv) petroleum refinery facilities;
(v) petroleum security operations centres and support
emergency response services;
(vi) petroleum operations control rooms or centres;
(vii) petroleum drilling, extraction, production, processing,
refining, terminal operations, transporting and retail
for use as end-use fuels or feedstocks for chemical
manufacturing;
(viii) companies that provide services to oil and gas
services; and
(ix) onshore and offshore operations for maintenance and
emergency response;
(k) establishments that support retail, sale and services in the
natural gas, propane and petrochemical industries such as–
(i) natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines,
including compressor stations;
(ii) underground storage of natural gas;
(iii) natural gas processing plants and those that deal
with natural gas liquids;
(iv) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities;
(v) natural gas security operations centres, natural gas
operations dispatch and control rooms or centres and
natural gas emergency response and customer
emergencies, including natural gas leak calls;
(vi) drilling, production, processing, refining and
transporting natural gas for use as end-use fuels,
feedstocks for chemical manufacturing,
petrochemical products or use in electricity
generation;
(vii) propane gas dispatch and control rooms and
emergency response and customer emergencies,
including propane leak calls;
(viii) propane gas service maintenance and restoration,
including call centres;
(ix) processing, refining and transporting natural liquids,
including propane gas, for use as end-use fuels or
feedstocks for chemical manufacturing; and
(x) propane gas storage, transmission and distribution
centres;
(l) establishments that support retail, sale and services in the
chemical services sector such as–
(i) chemical and industrial gas supply chains, chemical
manufacturing plants, laboratories and distribution
facilities;
(ii) tank truck cleaning facilities; and
(iii) the production of protective cleaning and medical solutions, personal protective equipment and packaging that prevents the contamination of food, water, medicine and other products;
(m) establishments that support retail, sale and services in the production and transportation of chlorine and alkali
manufacturing, single-use plastics and packaging that prevents the contamination or supports the continued manufacture of food, water, medicine and other essential products, including glass container manufacturing;
(n)establishments that support retail, sale and services in the construction sector;
(o) establishments that support services in the information, communication and technology sectors;
(p) establishments that support retail, sale and services in water and sewage;
(q) establishments that support retail, sale and services in fire and safety supplies

[adnj]

Vaccine appointment today at 1pm

Wouldn't take that if I were you.

.....

[2WNBoost]

Darwin Awards to be distributed soon enough.

[2WNBoost]

Smallpox is a non issue because of…

[solarkh]

Essential Services Listing
We have been inundated with info, here is a list of what is considered essential at this time.

The updated Public Health Regulations (12) has been published. It will be in effect until May 23rd

I know there is some confusion about who qualifies as “essential” services and retail. Here is the full list allowed to operate as per Regulation 4(7).

“(a) supermarkets, groceries, markets, greengrocers, retail
membership discount stores, bakeries, poultry depots, fish
stalls or shops, fruit stalls or shops, vegetable stalls or shops,
“parlours” and “corner shops”, provided that not more than
fifty per cent of the establishment’s ordinary retail capacity is
surpassed at any time during operating hours;
(b) banks, financial institutions, non-banks, remittance facilities,
Unit Trust Corporation, National Insurance Board, National
Lotteries Control Board and its agents, credit unions,
insurance companies and services, brokers and capital market
companies and retail services in the processing and
maintenance of systems for processing of financial and
insurance transactions and services (e.g. information
technology, payment, clearing and settlement, wholesale
funding, insurance services and capital markets activities)
and the provision of support for financial operations, such as
services about staffing, transactions, data, technology
and security operations centres;
(c) retailers for newspapers and media houses;
(d) hardware stores including plumbing establishments and
retail electrical stores and electrical establishments in
support of the generation, transmission and distribution of
electric power;
(e) establishments that service appliances and electronics;
(f) petroleum stations and convenience marts attached thereto;
(g) establishments that support retail, sale and services of:
(i) refrigeration systems and products;
(ii) the aviation and maritime sector including aircraft,
marine vessels and the equipment and infrastructure
that enables operations that encompass the movement of
cargo and passengers;
(iii) retailers that support air transportation, air traffic
controllers, ramp personnel, aviation security and
aviation management;
(iv) the maintenance and operation of cargo by air
transportation, including flight crews, maintenance,
airport operations and other on- and off-airport
facilities workers;
(v) the repair of ships and the storage and delivery of
goods at, or from, ports, docks, wharves, storage
facilities and warehouses operated in connection with
ports, docks or wharves;
(vi) the public transportation by water-taxi, ferry, motor
vehicle, bus, including buses operated by the Public
Transport Services Corporation;
(vii) automobiles including repair and maintenance
facilities;
(viii) the management of hazardous and waste materials;
(ix) packaging and bottling of items;
(x) postal and shipping services;
(xi) food processing facilities;
(xii) livestock, poultry, seafood slaughter facilities at pet
and animal feed processing facilities;
(xiii) human food facilities producing by-products for
animal food and beverage production facilities;
(xiv) animal and fish food, feed and ingredient production,
packaging and distribution, manufacturing,
packaging and distribution of veterinary drugs;
(xv) of veterinary health, manufacturing and distribution
of animal medical materials, animal vaccines, animal
drugs, feed ingredients, feed and bedding, etc.,
transportation of live animals, animal medical
materials, transportation of deceased animals for
disposal, raising of animals for food, animal
production operations, slaughter and packing plants
and associated regulatory and government workforce;
(xvi) in support of construction relating to agricultural and
food production including land preparation and any
activity related to agriculture and/or food production;
(h) retail health services such as–
(i) public and private hospitals, laboratories, infirmaries,
nursing homes and hospices, funeral homes,
crematoria and burial grounds;
(ii) pharmacies and hospitals;
(iii) the provision of medical supplies to pharmacies and
hospitals including sanitary and hygiene products;
(iv) the provision of dental, optometric, ophthalmologic,
physical therapy and occupational therapy;
(i) retail energy services such as–
(i) IT and OT technology for EMS (Energy Management
Systems) and Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition (SCADA) systems and utility data
centres;
(ii) Cybersecurity, cybersecurity risk management and
back-up data technology;
(iii) vegetation and traffic management; and
(iv) environmental remediation/monitoring, instrumen-
tation, protection and control;
(j) establishments that support retail, sale and services in the
petroleum industries such as–
(i) petroleum stations and convenience marts attached
thereto;
(ii) petroleum product storage, pipeline, marine
transport, terminals, road transport;
(iii) crude oil storage facilities, pipeline and marine
transport;
(iv) petroleum refinery facilities;
(v) petroleum security operations centres and support
emergency response services;
(vi) petroleum operations control rooms or centres;
(vii) petroleum drilling, extraction, production, processing,
refining, terminal operations, transporting and retail
for use as end-use fuels or feedstocks for chemical
manufacturing;
(viii) companies that provide services to oil and gas
services; and
(ix) onshore and offshore operations for maintenance and
emergency response;
(k) establishments that support retail, sale and services in the
natural gas, propane and petrochemical industries such as–
(i) natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines,
including compressor stations;
(ii) underground storage of natural gas;
(iii) natural gas processing plants and those that deal
with natural gas liquids;
(iv) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities;
(v) natural gas security operations centres, natural gas
operations dispatch and control rooms or centres and
natural gas emergency response and customer
emergencies, including natural gas leak calls;
(vi) drilling, production, processing, refining and
transporting natural gas for use as end-use fuels,
feedstocks for chemical manufacturing,
petrochemical products or use in electricity
generation;
(vii) propane gas dispatch and control rooms and
emergency response and customer emergencies,
including propane leak calls;
(viii) propane gas service maintenance and restoration,
including call centres;
(ix) processing, refining and transporting natural liquids,
including propane gas, for use as end-use fuels or
feedstocks for chemical manufacturing; and
(x) propane gas storage, transmission and distribution
centres;
(l) establishments that support retail, sale and services in the
chemical services sector such as–
(i) chemical and industrial gas supply chains, chemical
manufacturing plants, laboratories and distribution
facilities;
(ii) tank truck cleaning facilities; and
(iii) the production of protective cleaning and medical solutions, personal protective equipment and packaging that prevents the contamination of food, water, medicine and other products;
(m) establishments that support retail, sale and services in the production and transportation of chlorine and alkali
manufacturing, single-use plastics and packaging that prevents the contamination or supports the continued manufacture of food, water, medicine and other essential products, including glass container manufacturing;
(n)establishments that support retail, sale and services in the construction sector;
(o) establishments that support services in the information, communication and technology sectors;
(p) establishments that support retail, sale and services in water and sewage;
(q) establishments that support retail, sale and services in fire and safety supplies

Construction?

[bluefete]

So GAMBLING is now an essential service??

Okay Uncle Keithos. Carry on!

[K74T]

You do know that you could pay bills and get phone cards by NLCB booths right? So yes NLCB is essential. Dbu.

[nemisis]

Didn't they clearly state casinos closed? What you Talking about?

[bluefete]

You do know that you could pay bills and get phone cards by NLCB booths right? So yes NLCB is essential. Dbu.

.

As a %-age of total revenue, I am sure those sales FAAAAAARRRRRRR exceed Play Whe, Lotto, Online Games that draw every 3 minutes and so on

[K74T]

Yuh pressure going up. Relax.

[bluefete]

Yuh pressure going up. Relax.

[redmanjp]

Are they planning to increase capacity or anything in adavance due to the projected overflow of the parallel system within the 10 days?

They had at least 6 months prior to now to improve the parallel system, you expect increased capacity in 10 days?

they already added on arima. and beds starting filling already, 10 the first night

[redmanjp]

You do know that you could pay bills and get phone cards by NLCB booths right? So yes NLCB is essential. Dbu.

regs should ban the games and just allow these things then. no one should be lining up/congregating to play lotto play whe now

[redmanjp]

I expect to die from this. Never regained full lung capacity form pneumonia some years ago, so even regular virus sometimes frigs me up pretty bad

You can avoid this. Don'tet anyone tell you otherwise. As long as you take all necessary precautions you will be fine. This virus requires close contact to transmit. Just take extra precautions to the point of paranoia and you will be good.

If you need to wear two masks and face shield then do that etc. Create a bubble around yaself as well. You screen who could come and see ya. You protect yaself pardner.

yeah I take every precaution, but ya never know

Have you been vaccinated? If not you should work on that….. show up at a mass vaccination site and explain your situation if they don’t think you meet the criteria.

any adult of any age with NCDs now qualify but u have to walk with some proof from a doctor

[widdyphuck]

People still have money to play these things..

[A172]

just got the legal notice

car dealerships & service centres can open

976829317.jpeg

one correction here; parts places cannot open

only car sales, service & repairs

[redmanjp]

^ u sure about dealerships? because that was banned last time only service centers was allowed

[ST Auto]

Gt. Got the jab.

[redmanjp]

https://guardian.co.tt/news/10-days-to-collapse-of-parallel-health-sector-6.2.1323735.0eb306366c

Renuka Singh

Younger, healthier people with no co-morbidities are now dying from the COVID-19 virus in T&T and the Health Ministry is now testing them to determine if the more deadly Brazilian (P1) strain was responsible for their deaths.

The Ministry, through Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Roshan Parasram, yesterday reported an additional 10 people with the P1 strain.

Parasram said that of 300 samples tested so far, there are 25 confirmed cases of that variant.

He was speaking at a news conference yesterday at the Diplomatic Centre, just before the Health Ministry announced that five more people had died from the virus.

“P1 is said to be 1.5 to 2.5 more transmissible than the previous strain, the Wuhan strain,” he said.

“We did see some deaths in younger people, one in the 30s, a couple in the 40s without co-morbidities in the past few days, which is a worrying trend,” he said.

“There is a concern about whether it can be attributed to the P1. Time will tell when we confirm those samples,” he said.

The P1 he said was “moving faster and hitting harder” which meant we had to “double-up” on the restrictions and try to stop the spread.

“We have to be very vigilant,” he said.

Parasram yesterday said that he noticed the “worrying trend” of climbing COVID-19 positive numbers since March and now the country has just 10 days left before it runs out of beds for sick patients.

“I had said in the early part of March that we noticed a considerable increase. People at the time thought that it was too small, I thought that it was enough to cause a significant increase in terms of a snowball type of effect,” he said.

Parasram said that the health officials expected people to come together over the Easter weekend. He said the numbers would first double, then quadruple very fast.

“The effect is exactly like a snowball,” he said.

The CMO said that based on their contact tracing of infected patients, they found people pick up the virus at their workplace.

“We have seen a lot of workplace transmission being documented. A lot of people just say that they went to work and came back home, they forget the little bits. They forget that they stopped to have food, they forget they went to the gym,” he said.

Parasram said that contract tracers say that a lot of contacts has also been coming from private gatherings.

The number of P1 confirmed cases has now put T&T on the no-fly list for Jamaica.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday said that the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, notified him yesterday that because of the presence of the P1 variant, Jamaica is barring travel to and from T&T.

The Government is also moving ahead with the vaccinations and is still expecting some 33,600 vaccines at the end of May, with another 33,000 expected without a delivery date yet.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said that the China-manufactured Sinopharm vaccine was expected to receive World Health Organisation (WHO) approval this week.

Initially, the WHO was supposed to approve this vaccine for use at the end of April but that has been delayed.

T&T has been in discussions with China president Xi Jinpeng two months ago to discuss getting this vaccine. China promised 100,000 Sinopharm vaccines in the first instance and Moderna is now supplying 500 million to the Covax facility.

[Kenjo]

Gt. Got the jab.

How did you get through with your appointment ? The new WhatsApp numbers / call in numbers or you did a walk in ?

[teems1]

That 500m to Covax is until end 2022.

It's looking to be a 50m to Covax within the upcoming months, with a further 450m until end of 2022.

I think the best bet right now is once the US government eases restrictions on international selling, we should buy directly from Pfizer or Moderna.

I would avoid the Chinese and Russian vaccines just based on their history of fudging the numbers.

[ST Auto]

I phoned the number yesterday. Gave me appointment for today.

Gt. Got the jab.

How did you get through with your appointment ? The new WhatsApp numbers / call in numbers or you did a walk in ?

[daring dragoon]

from that list the only business closed is chinese play whe, food places, clothes stores, shoe stores, variety stores an so much people bitching about loosing 3 weeks pay or 3 weeks business. he should of implemented a curfew, close everything except groceries, shops, meat shops, hardware and electrical. if your car mashup you cant drive so stay the furk home. too much people still around in my opinion.

[adnj]

Vaccine appointment today at 1pm

Wouldn't take that if I were you.

.....

[pugboy]

how much we getting today ?
a 200 and couple deaths?

[widdyphuck]

Gt. Got the jab.

RIP immune system.

[triniterribletim]

just got the legal notice

car dealerships & service centres can open976829317.jpeg

one correction here; parts places cannot open

only car sales, service & repairs

So what about a Foreign Used dealer that also sells parts? Would they be allowed to open or not?