The Prime Minister has urged citizens to reject the notion that the increasing number of covid19 deaths in this country is par for the course.

Addressing the Government’s handling of the covid19 pandemic during a news conference on Friday at his official residence in Tobago, Dr Rowley said, “We still are a country where every day a number of people are dying from covid (19). We have a consistent stream of deaths from covid (19) and I would hate to think that we are taking that as par for the course.”

Saying the Government would like the deaths to end, he said citizens have a vital role to play in reducing significantly the number of covid19-related fatalities. As of Saturday, total deaths were 1,325.

“But as long as the virus is spreading, infecting people, a proportion of those infected people are going to get very sick and unfortunately, some are going to die. That is what we are trying to avoid.”

Rowley said the Government is hoping the majority of the population 12 years and older will be vaccinated by December.

He said this would put the Government in an advantageous position with respect to rebuilding the economy.

“That would put us in a much better position to take certain kinds of decisions. We are just hoping that we do what has to be done.”

Rowley said some of the decisions going forward may not be popular.

“But the patience that we have engendered in the process, that patience will allow us to get going and evade the conditions that some people are experiencing.”

Rowley said TT has managed to escape “a lot of the worst sides of the pandemic.

“So whatever you might be concerned about now, in terms of losses and disruptions, just remember that in doing what we have been doing so far, we have successfully evaded the worst possibilities.”

Meanwhile, Tobago has recorded yet another covid19-related death, bringing the island’s death toll to 68. The latest is a 46-year-old man with comorbidities.

In a statement on Saturday, the THA Division of Health, Wellness and Family Development reported there are now 24 new covid19-related cases in Tobago and 460 active cases.

It said there are 46 patients in state isolation, 408 in home isolation and six in ICU. Six patients have been discharged.

The division said of the 13, 269 people who have been tested for the virus on the island, 2,302 tested positive. There are 1,774 recovered patients.

A total of 18,993 people in Tobago have been partially vaccinated and 14,057 are fully vaccinated.