There is one suspected case of COVID-19 at the Princess Elizabeth Centre, Health Minister Dr Terrence Deyalsingh revealed on Wednesday. “That person is stable,” is all that he said, in reference to the suspect case at the home for physically handicapped children which is based in Woodbrook.

The daily flow of statistics from the Ministry of Health also took a different turn on Wednesday when for the first time since it started one week ago, the results of surveillance testing were made available. Sixty-three (63) persons were tested and all returned negative. The purpose of surveillance testing is not necessary to diagnose individuals but to collect data that allows health systems to understand how the outbreak currently looks and plan for the coming weeks and months. In Trinidad and Tobago one health centre in each of the nine counties conducts surveillance testing.

That apart the Minister of Health reported this morning that nine persons were discharged overnight as he warned citizens “ don’t misinterpret the data that we have in Trinidad and Tobago and to remain vigilant. The World Health Organization has classified what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago as “sporadic spread.” But we are not yet ready to determine if there has been community spread in Trinidad and Tobago. “Community spread will only be determined by the science and info coming out of contact tracing and it is too early to say where we are with that. Once we have that data we will know,” Deyalsingh said. “When the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) informs the political directorate to make the decisions,  I hope we would come out with a B-plus,”  the Minister of Health said.