The United National Congress is calling on the government to clear up what they describe as mixed messages and disinformation with respect to Covid-19 testing in Trinidad and Tobago. The party said that they have made numerous calls asking the Government to follow international best practice and increase the levels of testing in this country.

In a statement released by the UNC they said:

“We note in particular, the call for posthumous testing, made by the Leader of the Opposition, Mrs Kamla Persad Bissessar, SC, since March. Mrs Persad Bissessar called on the Government to test samples from people who died from flu-like symptoms recently, for Covid-19. This call was grounded in the fact that the only way we can truly be successful in our fight against Covid- 19 would be to base our actions on accurate and timely data.

The response coming from the Government press conference was to dismiss the gathering of this critical data, stating that  the policy by local authorities” was that there would be no posthumous testing. The reasons given were that it was simply too dangerous and carried too much unnecessary risk.”

“In a remarkable flip flop today, the nation is being told that the “Forensic Sciences Centre was actually sending testing all along to CARPHA” after stating publicly that this was not the policy by local authorities. Is it that the Forensic Sciences Centre was sending samples unbeknownst to the Government and the CMO? Were the posthumous samples always included in the “samples tested” data set? Did the posthumous numbers just appear today?” they continued.