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

[Dizzy28]

Was in Linda's this evening and a guy walked in without a mask. Was glad to see they didn't fold and allow him in cuz obviously yunno he was like he only need 1 thing and he not going to take long.

[pugboy]

i get confused by that statement

Dr. Janine St. Bernard: "we do not believe that there are persons out there, with COVID that we're not aware of."

[K74T]

Bodow

[pugboy]

yes let the snat fall in the ground instead of collecting in the warm moist mask where germs proliferate best

Went to the grocery yesterday and merchandisers busy packing all the shelves. Not one person was wearing a mask. I don't think that people getting the idea. Old people also making they grocery and wearing no masks...

I just leaving this here and going. It is a New Zealand government document:
https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files ... 6-2020.pdf

also the MoH in the press conference today sent out some guidelines for cloth mask use. People are not suppose to sneeze or cough in their mask. You are supposed to take off your mask and sneeze or cough into your elbow.

so i'm supposed to hold back ah sneeze, take off the mask then sneeze? a cough maybe but i doh know of anyone who cud hold back a sneeze

[sMASH]

i say, bring on herd immunity. let it pass tru,

Have you seen what happened in New York hospitals?

yes. we got all our undetected infections via the carnival episode. what ever there was, first wave, second wave third wave, already went through the population from that time. by the time they started lock down, it was already swimming from persons to persons. the criteria for testing was restricted to only flight history or the primary contact of that person if they very symptomatic.

because of our late lock down we more or less did what sweden did, just we did not test widely, we stuck our heads in the sand.

now after a good while, a month or more, they NOWWWWW want to test the population with survelance testing. what they should do i antibody testing to see who had HAD it, if they want to know.

thats my script. we already got it, and we can reopen the internal business. leave borders closed.



govt script is, 116 cases, 8 deaths no new cases for the longest while, most cases discharging. their story means that we practically didnt get it. thier data makes it even more logical to reopen cause it says we didnt get it.

This definitely did not happen, otherwise our hospitals would have been overwhelmed by now.

What happened was we and most of the Caribbean locked down early after seeing what happened in the US.

Carnival did not bring Covid here, if it did we would have seen a huge peak in cases late March.

If the travellers who arrived the week before the border closed you'd see a huge number of cases end of April. We did not.

We got away, at most 1% of our population has immunity due to having it already. At most. We're very susceptible to a huge real first wave.

The current behaviour I'm seeing, if anyone of these idiots has Covid-19 and it starts rapidly spreading through out the community, expect to see a surge mid to end of June.

Trinis you have dissappointed me, wear allyuh freaking masks it's not a joke.

Went to the grocery yesterday and merchandisers busy packing all the shelves. Not one person was wearing a mask. I don't think that people getting the idea. Old people also making they grocery and wearing no masks...

cmo stood on the podium and said that he saw no significant uptick in respiratory deaths for this year so far. mark bassant told them that there was 493 (?) respriatory deaths for this year so far, when the previous year had 300(?) for the whole year, and dr hinds ranted that that data is reckless to post without a specialist combing through..

at the end of the day, we did see an uptick in respiratory deaths, but not as much as other countries, cause i most likely our hot weather is staving it more than the temperate climates. and because of their strict test criteria, they did not qualify for testing.

by next week, would be 7 to 14 days, u wouldnt get more than double the new infections we have now. cause we already had it.

i saying by june/july if u get 500 more new cases u get plenty.

[redmanjp]

yes let the snat fall in the ground instead of collecting in the warm moist mask where germs proliferate best

Went to the grocery yesterday and merchandisers busy packing all the shelves. Not one person was wearing a mask. I don't think that people getting the idea. Old people also making they grocery and wearing no masks...

I just leaving this here and going. It is a New Zealand government document:
https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files ... 6-2020.pdf

also the MoH in the press conference today sent out some guidelines for cloth mask use. People are not suppose to sneeze or cough in their mask. You are supposed to take off your mask and sneeze or cough into your elbow.

so i'm supposed to hold back ah sneeze, take off the mask then sneeze? a cough maybe but i doh know of anyone who cud hold back a sneeze

i'm just saying it's an involuntary function u can't stop so u may not have time to remove the mask- especially if u have stuff in your hands. if u can take it off AND put your mouth in your elbow in time, sure. some masks have ties u have to undo- definitely not enough time to do dat

[Strugglerzinc]

Friends,

Something going on in Mt. Hope?

Dunno if true...

I passed Couva hospital in early periods of covid in march and it had tents too...so

Probably just regular clinics. My parents go both Mt Hope and San Do and this is normal. Not many actually getting to see any Dr though, just extend prescriptions or re-schedule clinic dates outside in the tents or waiting areas.

[redmanjp]

mt hope certified to test for covid?

[pugboy]

stay clear medical have same thing
a screening tent outside

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

at the end of the day, we did see an uptick in respiratory deaths, but not as much as other countries, cause i most likely our hot weather is staving it more than the temperate climates.

What temperature it has to be outside to kill the virus?

The average normal internal body temperature is generally 98.6°F (37°C)

[adnj]

at the end of the day, we did see an uptick in respiratory deaths, but not as much as other countries, cause i most likely our hot weather is staving it more than the temperate climates.

What temperature it has to be outside to kill the virus?

The average normal internal body temperature is generally 98.6°F (37°C)

Studies on SARS-CoV virus indicates a preference for moderate temperatures and humidity for transmission survival. The preferred environment is an air conditioned space.

---------

The main route of transmission of SARS CoV infection is presumed to be respiratory droplets. However the virus is also detectable in other body fluids and excreta. The stability of the virus at different temperatures and relative humidity on smooth surfaces were studied. The dried virus on smooth surfaces retained its viability for over 5 days at temperatures of 22–25°C and relative humidity of 40–50%, that is, typical air-conditioned environments. However, virus viability was rapidly lost (>3 log10) at higher temperatures and higher relative humidity (e.g., 38°C, and relative humidity of >95%).

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/av/2011/734690/

[aaron17]

Can someone explain why we cannot sneeze or cough while wearing a mask?
I thought the mask was to reduce droplet spread.

[Chimera]

I went fcb credit card center in pos this morning. The csrs at the front have up a acrylic sneeze guard. Not a single staff member have a mask. And it have atleast 60 ppl upstairs there in close proximity.

[redmanjp]

Friends,

Something going on in Mt. Hope?

Dunno if true...

I passed Couva hospital in early periods of covid in march and it had tents too...so

Probably just regular clinics. My parents go both Mt Hope and San Do and this is normal. Not many actually getting to see any Dr though, just extend prescriptions or re-schedule clinic dates outside in the tents or waiting areas.

but if testing sites are like this- i might not be infected now, but when i go there to get a test and sit down next to a whole bunch of ppl many not wearing masks I might end up getting infected there especially as ppl who go to get tested would have symptoms like coughing, etc.

[paid_influencer]

Can someone explain why we cannot sneeze or cough while wearing a mask?
I thought the mask was to reduce droplet spread.

Once you sneeze or cough into a mask, it should be treated as contaminated.

Consider a tissue you've sneezed in. Think of how many bacteria, fungi and viruses are in that used tissue. Do you really want to carry around the contents of that sneeze on your mask all day? You are putting others at risk too, since you are literally wearing a cloth full of accumulated pathogens.

If you cough or sneeze into your mask, change it for a fresh one as soon as possible. Wash hands or sanitize after changing.

[paid_influencer]

good TV6 video on mask wearing while exercising

https://www.tv6tnt.com/news/7pmnews/drs ... ium=social

[Ben_spanna]

good TV6 video on mask wearing while exercising

https://www.tv6tnt.com/news/7pmnews/drs ... ium=social

if you can’t breathe while you exercise with a mask ON then stay da vfuk in your own house and exercise , don’t go out and due to your nasty selfish desire to exercise put everyone around you at risk.

If you see dem krunts around this afternoon exercising with No mask on, fr1gg1ng inconsiderate pl1cks....

[paid_influencer]

good TV6 video on mask wearing while exercising

https://www.tv6tnt.com/news/7pmnews/drs ... ium=social

if you can’t breathe while you exercise with a mask ON then stay da vfuk in your own house and exercise , don’t go out and due to your nasty selfish desire to exercise put everyone around you at risk.

If you see dem krunts around this afternoon exercising with No mask on, fr1gg1ng inconsiderate pl1cks....

reminder: there is no evidence to support cloth mask use in community settings. Source: WHO.

I have to keep posting that link because people cuss first and don't bother reading actual WHO documents.

[sMASH]

a piece of cloth, in front ur face, will stop virus particles.

makes as much sense as

[maj. tom]

lol yuh hadda fill the beak with garlic and flowers and a vinegar soaked sponge.
made sense at the time because they thought sickness was due to miasma or "bad air." Which was completely wrong eh?

[sMASH]

lol yuh hadda fill the beak with garlic and flowers and a vinegar soaked sponge.
made sense at the time because they thought sickness was due to miasma or "bad air." Which was completely wrong eh?

so ur saying covid is airborne? and, the face cloth doesnt have room for garlic and vinegar... guess u can spray on some fbreeze to substitute the flowers. btw, garlic and vinegar does have some antiseptic properties... so,,, guess its step ahead of a face cloth...

[Dohplaydat]

a piece of cloth, in front ur face, will stop virus particles.

makes as much sense as

Sigh when will you backsides realize even a piece of single ply toilet paper decreases your risk of transmission to others if you're asymptomatic. This isn't to protect yourself it's meant to reduce the spread of the virus to others.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2

[sMASH]

i prefer to believe deyalsingh before they figured out they coudl use the pandemic to access loans and local reserves.
cloth is a waste of time. when u exhaling, those particles going straight out with ur breath, not the droplets, the virus. and what ever is collected on the inside, after some time, ur breath WILL push it out in time. it will not so much reduce it, as delay it.... stagger it.

u go by the doubles man, ur mask filters the particles, then u go grocery, then u go line up in the bank, by that time, what was on the inside done push to the outside surface.

if u really want to avoid it, stay away from other people.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

The 69 TT Nationals who were repatriated from Suriname and quarantined at the University of the West Indies Debe Campus for the past two weeks are set to be released today.

[supercharged turbo]

Is there any grace period if your insurance expired or does it only apply to driver's license?

[paid_influencer]

Sigh when will you backsides realize even a piece of single ply toilet paper decreases your risk of transmission to others if you're asymptomatic. This isn't to protect yourself it's meant to reduce the spread of the virus to others.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2

DPD, i am glad to see you are now recognizing the value of scientific evidence in making decisions. With evidence, we can make informed decisions. I want to congratulate you on your first step towards critical thinking.

Please pay kind attention the following from your linked article:

1. It focuses on surgical masks used in a health care setting. In a health care setting, masks are disposable. You are supposed to throw your mask away after each patient to prevent transferring microbes from one patient to another. Community use of masks, i.e., wearing the same mask all day, it not supported by any evidence at all.

Prior to this outbreak and mask shortage, any infectious disease doctor wearing the same mask between patients would likely have a malpractice lawsuit coming.

2. Community use of cloth masks have almost no evidence at all covering them. The only thing resembling community use of cloth masks is countries where women wear veils. Those women carry a higher risk of asthma and respiratory illness Link. From our perspective here, in a hot and humid environment, masks very easily become moist and make an excellent breeding ground for bacteria and fungi that can create respiratory issues down the line.

3. There is significant risk of contamination from used or dirty masks. Cloth masks do not eliminate respiratory droplets, they just concentrate them on the mask. When you take a sip of water, adjust your mask or simply lower it to talk, you are touching and spreading any germs concentrated on your mask.

Since you've started down this road of critical thinking, I encourage you to read the following in their entirety. You on lockdown, you have time. These are government documents from a New Zealand Ministry of Health and another from the World Health Organization. They are experts, they know what they are talking about. I have posted them before and am posting them again because I believe you DPD particularly have not read them yet.

COVID-19: Face mask and hygiene advice (NZ MoH)
(read especially the link for Review of science and policy around face masks and COVID-19 (PDF 604 KB))
Advice on the use of masks in the context of COVID-19 (WHO)

[De Dragon]

mt hope certified to test for covid?

Once Dr War on Salt could control the info you're gtg. The DPP is to be sent a MoH compiled file of all private labs offering Covid-19 testing, and there was the Big Brother warning of the fines for not sending results to the MoH even though private labs have yet to be certified. Trevor Sayers advising people to spray insecticide in your eye, arse, and every possible orifice for years, but the DPP eh even business with he.
This is the same tunts MoH who clung to "patient confidentiality" to suppress the initial info regarding the outbreak mind you.

[redmanjp]

Get some sun or take some Vitamin D supplements (especially if u have dark skin)

https://scitechdaily.com/vitamin-d-determines-severity-in-covid-19-researchers-urge-government-to-change-advice/

Vitamin D Determines Severity in COVID-19: Researchers Urge Government to Change Advice

By TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN MAY 13, 2020


Trinity College Dublin researchers point to changes in government advice in Wales, England and Scotland.

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin are calling on the government in Ireland to change recommendations for vitamin D supplements.

A new publication from Dr. Eamon Laird and Professor Rose Anne Kenny, School of Medicine, and the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), in collaboration with Professor Jon Rhodes at University of Liverpool, highlights the association between vitamin D levels and mortality from COVID-19.

The authors of the article, just published in the Irish Medical Journal, analyzed all European adult population studies, completed since 1999, which measured vitamin D and compared vitamin D and death rates from COVID-19.

Vitamin D is produced in the skin from UVB sunlight exposure and is transported to the liver and then the kidney where it is changed into an active hormone that increases calcium transport from food in the gut and ensures calcium is adequate to keep the skeleton strong and free of osteoporosis.

Related: Vitamin D Linked to Low Coronavirus Death Rate

But vitamin D can also support the immune system through a number of immune pathways involved in fighting SARS-CoV-2. Many recent studies confirm the pivotal role of vitamin D in viral infections.

This study shows that, counter intuitively, countries at lower latitude and typically sunny countries, such as Spain and Northern Italy, had low concentrations of vitamin D and high rates of vitamin D deficiency. These countries also experienced the highest infection and death rates in Europe.

The northern latitude countries of Norway, Finland, and Sweden, have higher vitamin D levels despite less UVB sunlight exposure, because supplementation and fortification of foods is more common. These Nordic countries have lower COVID-19 infection and death rates. The correlation between low vitamin D levels and death from COVID-19 is statistically significant.

The authors propose that, whereas optimizing vitamin D levels will certainly benefit bone and muscle health, the data suggests that it is also likely to reduce serious COVID-19 complications. This may be because vitamin D is important in regulation and suppression of the inflammatory cytokine response, which causes the severe consequences of COVID-19 and ‘acute respiratory distress syndrome’ associated with ventilation and death.

Professor Rose Anne Kenny said:

“In England, Scotland and Wales, public health bodies have revised recommendations since the COVID-19 outbreak. Recommendations now state that all adults should take at least 400 IU vitamin D daily. Whereas there are currently no results from randomized controlled trials to conclusively prove that vitamin D beneficially affects COVID-19 outcomes, there is strong circumstantial evidence of associations between vitamin D and the severity of COVID-19 responses, including death.”

“This study further confirms this association. We call on the Irish government to update guidelines as a matter of urgency and encourage all adults to take supplements during the COVID-19 crisis. Deficiency is frequent in Ireland. Deficiency is most prevalent with age, obesity, in men, in ethnic minorities, in people with diabetes, hypertension and in nursing homes.”

Dr. Eamon Laird added:

“Here we see observational evidence of a link of vitamin D with mortality. Optimizing vitamin D intake to public health guidelines will certainly have benefits for overall health and support immune function. Research like this is still exploratory and we need further trials to have concrete evidence on the level of vitamin D that is needed for optimal immune function. However, studies like this also remind us how low our vitamin D status is in the population (even in sunny countries) and adds further weight to some sort of mandatory vitamin D fortification policy. If the Nordic countries are allowed to do this, there is no reason Ireland, the UK or rest of Europe can’t either.”

Reference: “Vitamin D and Inflammation: Potential Implications for Severity of Covid-19” by E. Laird, J. Rhodes and R.A. Kenny, 11 May 2020, Irish Medical Journal.
Link

[toyolink]

T&T statistics suggest that we are now in a good place.
I must admit that this could be the most deceptive time and many may very well drop their guard.
After 8 weeks and now mental fatigue and financial desperation is taking route, individuals are naturally going to gravitate to dealing with what may appear to be more threatening realities.
Covid19 is proving to be more than just an attack on physical health and the other deadly impacts may not be dealt with by masks and social distancing.
A feeling of disorientation and uneasiness which one may experience at this time is not uncommon and needs to be managed.

[K74T]

Prime Minster to host Media Conference tomorrow at 2PM.