The PCR machine at the San Fernando General Hospital is back up and running, after being down for more than two weeks.

This was confirmed by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, who told the Lower House on Friday that the machine for Covid-19 testing officially came back into service yesterday, Thursday.

The Minister was then asked how many clinical procedures had been affected by the down-time.

“We prioritize PCR testing for patients in the hospital setting, especially those in the emergency departments and hospitals. So therefore no procedures were delayed,” Deyalsingh responded. 

This then prompted Caroni East MP Dr. Rishad Seecheran to question how the situation affected the tally of daily confirmed Covid-19 cases.

“So what we did, normally we will report the cases from so and so to so and so (one date to another). These tests were prioritized on emergency basis to minimize the outsource to Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Trinidad Public Health lab and to the private sector to minimize inconvenience. But there may have been a 48-72 hour lag in non-emergency cases,” he said.