THE EDITOR: In the May 1 Newsday, TT was listed at number one in an updated covid19 lockdown rollback checklist compiled by Oxford University researchers.

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh, asked for his thoughts on TT's position at the time, said the population should not react with a false sense of security.

He added, however, that the Oxford report is "a very good report" and "paints us in an excellent light. This is testimony to what we have been saying all along."

Deyalsingh said "that our response to covid, led by the Prime Minister, was a robust one...What this speaks to is that the world is recognising that the decision not to flip a switch and open back the economy is the right way."

One year later, as at May 22, we are at a death toll of over 300 people and over 7,000 active cases. Over 6,000 patients are at home in self-isolation, over 400 patients are in hospital, over 100 people are in step-down facilities waiting to be discharged and over 200 are in state quarantine.

The country has had over 19,000 positive cases since its first case on March 12, 2020. Of this, approximately 11,000 people have recovered.

I wonder how we are rated now by Oxford University researchers?

It is my view that we are at this stage now not because of violations of covid19 protocols, but because our Ministry of Health is overwhelmed by the number of cases and has lost control of the processes to test, monitor and administer the checks and balances to treat with covid19 cases.

What happens now when people are told to self-quarantine and that someone from the ministry would make contact?

Well, there are numerous cases of no contact being made. How does this affect contact tracing and what about the affected individual as far as receiving medical advice during quarantine and testing or otherwise post-quarantine?

Additionally, someone told me that one of their employees tested positive and some 13 days after they were contacted to go into quarantine. They questioned the rationale based on the time period and was told that a doctor would contact them.

The person was subsequently contacted days after the mandatory 14-day quarantine period and was told that seeing that 14 days had passed there was no need to go on self-quarantining but that they should monitor their status daily.

There is also the case of someone who was in contact with a person who tested positive. They did a test at a health centre and after five days they had not received the result. The individual responsibly went into self-quarantine and eventually received a negative report.

Why in these critical times have the necessary measures not been put in place so that health centres could be opened on public holidays or 24 hours a day to do testing?

Why is there a problem in this period of crisis to have the self-testing covid19 Antigen Rapid Test Device kits approved for use by citizens who are having problems to get the necessary testing done via the ministry and are not equipped financially to have it done privately?

Based on th

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