Trinidad and Tobago declares state of emergency as COVID-19 outbreak spirals
Gavin Riley / Our Today
administrator
Trinidad and Tobago’s worrying coronavirus (COVID-19) spike shows no signs of slowing down, and Prime Minister of the twin-island republic, Dr Keith Rowley, is taking even stronger measures to contain the rate of spread.
Prime Minister Rowley, in an address to the nation on Saturday (May 15), indicated his government has moved to impose a state of emergency effective midnight on Sunday to contain an increase of COVID-19 cases and related deaths.
Rowley told the televised virtual press conference that he met with Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi as well as experts from the Ministry of Health and agreed that “additional attempts” were necessary “to reduce the opportunity for spread.”
“From midnight tonight, Trinidad and Tobago will be under a state of emergency,” he said.
A 9:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew has also been imposed, with some exceptions to essential services including the energy sector, supermarkets, and pharmacies.
Trinidad and Tobago is experiencing its third and worst wave of COVID-19 after the virus first arrived in the Caribbean nation in March 2020.
Confirming 520 new cases in the last 24 hours, the cumulative caseload in Trinidad stands at 15,899—of that number, the twin-island state is managing 5,558 active cases.
The CARICOM member state has consistently hit over 200 cases in the past week, which has continually worsened as the days progressed.
The islands, reeling under the more infectious P1 variant from Brazil, broke the previous 402 daily confirmation tally on Wednesday, registering 612 new cases in a single day.
Since then, Trinidad and Tobago has confirmed 494 cases on average over the last three days.
Seven hospitals caring for COVID-19 patients are at a critical stage of 73 per cent overall occupancy, Principal Medical Officer Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards added.
Eleven persons died from coronavirus-related complications, pushing the death toll to 276. An additional 10,065 Trinbagonians have made a full recovery from the infectious disease, according to health ministry data.
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