ALTHOUGH there appears to be a slowing-down of the covid 19 virus, Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe says it is too early to throw caution to the wind.

With the lifting of health restrictions on Monday, he said it would be easy for people who suffered "pandemic fatigue" over the past two years,to become complacent.

He cautioned that the BA 2 subvariant of omicron, which is responsible for the recent surge in the United Kingdom, may escape the natural immunity acquired by people previously infected with covid.

“It is safer to have the vaccine in your system,” he said encouraging the unvaccinated to seriously consider getting the vaccination in light of the subvariant, the dominant version of the coronavirus in the US.

As the covid cases lessen and the country slowly returns to normality, health facilities previously used for covid cases are being redeployed to regular use. Point Fortin Hospital was recently decommissioned and the Arima health facility is next on the list.

Speaking on the United National Congress (UNC) virtual platform on Monday night, Bodoe asked what will become of the Augustus Long Hospital and the Couva Children’s Hospital, which were both dedicated to the treatment of covid19 patients.

Bodoe asked if the state-of-the-art 230-bed facility at Couva will finally be used as a regular hospital for the benefit of citizens, or if some reason will be found to close it again.

The 50-bed Augustus Long Hospital,which has its own ICU,can be a valuable asset for the public health care system, Bodoe observed, but expressed some doubts as to its future.

“Will it remain under the purview of the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) or will it go into the hands of friends and financiers of the PNM to be run as a private hospital?”

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh did not respond to these questions.

As the country moves out of this pandemic, Bodoe said a new epidemic is emerging, referring to it as the chronic disease burden.

Bodoe said in spite of the Government’s boast of a parallel healthcare system, patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart and renal diseases had difficulty accessing timely care during the pandemic.

“Instead of getting additional staff to man the dedicated covid19 facilities, in many instances staff were simply transferred from the traditional health care system to these facilities, leaving the traditional healthcare care system to suffer.

“They had parallel health institutions, but not a parallel health care system. When the anaesthetists from San Fernando General Hospital (SFFGH) were deployed to Point Fortin and Augustus Long Hospitals, surgeries were postponed at the SFGH.

“The waiting list for hip and eye surgeries is now close to one year, and even now, elective surgeries continue to be postponed because of shortage of drugs and supplies.

He offered as solutions the employment of additional staff to ease the backlog of patients in clinics, reinstating extended hours at health centres and the use of external patient programme

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