Cabinet has agreed to suspend cruise ship visits to Trinidad and Tobago for the rest of the season which ends on  April 24th.

This means that 12 cruise ships will be banned from berthing, five in Port of Spain and seven in Scarborough.

It’s all part of the preventative measures to prevent the spread of the  Coronavirus which is not yet recorded in Trinidad and Tobago.

For passengers arriving from the  UK, Canada and the USA, Chief Medical officer Dr Roshan Parasram, assured: “we will be monitoring anyone who comes from either of these countries for 14 days”.

“We are getting line lists that pass from immigration division and will monitor them by phone and they will be quarantined and treated once they show symptoms,” Dr Parasram said.

Citizens are being asked to limit themselves to essential and emergency travel, according to National Security Minister Stuart Young at  Thursday’s Post Cabinet news briefing.

Young urged self-discipline and self-imposed caution.

“Do not unnecessarily expose yourself to the non-essential mass gathering,” he urged while noting that the government has not banned any events, as yet.

“In light of this Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has postponed a walkabout and a public meeting planned for this weekend,” Mr Young announced.

“Limit your exposure to public crowds and public spaces and use more sanitary measures.

“Please remain calm and do not go into unnecessary states of panic buying and hoarding,” the Minister said before he announced that he will host a meeting all Heads of National Security tomorrow morning.

Health Minister Dr Terrence Deyalsingh said that the Caura Unit has been activated and where there were four beds previously the unit now has the capacity for  28.

“By tomorrow, the Couva hospital will be really to accept its first COVID 19 patient if necessary.

“A small percentage of people will need ICU treatment and we won’t want to treat them at regular hospitals so we will be running two parallel systems- one for COVID, one as usual,” Deyalsingh explained.

“The Augustus Long hospital and Arima hospital will be coming online soon- and will be used when the virus reaches here.

‘We will throw a protective blanket around that first imported case with contact tracing..make sure there is no spread within family and community,” the Minister said.