COVID-Deadly May In This Caribbean Nation

By NAN Staff Writer

News Americas, PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Weds. May 12, 2021: It’s only 12 days into the month of May, but already, one Caribbean country has recorded 55 COVID-19 related deaths, making it the deadliest month to date since the pandemic begun last year.

On Tuesday, the oil rich, twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago added 9 new deaths to reach the 55 total. It was the deadliest day for the country since March 2020.

So far this month, the island nation has been averaging five deaths a day according to the Trinidad Guardian. The previous record high monthly death toll occurred in September 2020, with 54 deaths reported.

Of the persons who died on Tuesday, three were elderly men; three elderly women; two were middle-aged woman and the other was a middle-aged man.

Trinidad and Tobago death toll from COVID-19 is now at 224.

Meanwhile, the country is also seeing its largest jump in new infections to date. In the period May 8 through May 10, 2021, 348 people tested positive for the disease, marking the third-highest jump in daily reported COVID-19 cases to date.

As of May 11th, 2,972 cases have been recorded month-to-date, marking the highest number of cases recorded in a single month.

T&T’s total COVID-19 cases stand at 13,802, with a record high of 4,078 cases considered active. Of the active number, 71 are considered critical.

T&T’s COVID-19 hospitals, according to the Guardian, continue to be under strain due with a total of 335 cases hospitalized, making it the second-highest number of patients since the pandemic began.

The overall COVID-19 hospital occupancy stands at 51 per cent across all levels of care in both islands, with a slightly higher 54 percent when only accounting for Trinidad’s beds.

In the last 24 hours, the total number of people tested at private and public facilities stands at 147,470, rising by 5,920. This marks the largest increase on record; however, 5,136 people were tested at private facilities in the last week.

Health officials have warned that T&T’s parallel healthcare system may be overwhelmed by next Monday based on current trends and a total of 110 hospital beds have been added to the parallel healthcare system.