“We are trying out best in terms of coping,” lamented the sister of a Covid-19 patient, who is currently in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Mount St John’s Medical Centre (MSJMC).
Tracy Dover told Observer that she has not seen her younger brother, Keith Dover, since he was transported to the hospital in early April.
In fact, Tracy said the family was only informed of Keith’s status when someone called using the Covid-19 hotline and she believes that speaking to him could lift his spirit.
“Even we had a chance that he could hear somebody’s voice, whether through a recorder or phone or something, we all believe that it will cause some kind of reaction from him.
“We can’t find out anything and if these doctors don’t call me, I don’t know anything. Sometimes, I don’t hear from them for two, three days,” Tracy disclosed.
She explained that the ordeal has been extremely hard on their mother in particular.
“We are her only children and it not easy for her. It’s hard; very, very hard,” she lamented.
In addition, the 38-year-old patient has a five-year-old son, who his sister said has been asking about him and who doesn’t fully understand why he cannot see his father.
Keith, who is one of a number of Antiguans who travelled to Montserrat for St Patrick’s Day celebration in March, is diabetic and had been feeling unwell for some time.
Tracy disclosed that she noticed some of the signs one day and contacted the health authorities.
“He looked very weak to me so one day- I think it was the Tuesday- I asked him if he’s feeling sick and he said yes. He was feeling weak and I could see him breathing kinda fast. That was the Tuesday, by the Wednesday he was looking worse and then I called the authorities and they sent somebody to check him. At hat point, the diabetes was extremely high so then they decided they [would take him to the hospital],” she said.
Tracy said that doctors have said that her brother remained in a critical state since the “infection is still in his lungs”.
Fortunately, his workplace had mandated persons who travelled recently, to self-isolate for two weeks and so Keith was at home and had not been exposed to people outside of the family.
His close family members have also been tested and have all been cleared of the virus.
The total number of persons with laboratory confirmation of Covid-19 in Antigua and Barbuda, remains at 24 and two of those individuals are reportedly in the ICU.
The most recent results received by the Ministry of Health Wellness and the Environment from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) revealed that there are no new laboratory- confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Of the five recent samples sent to CARPHA, three were repeat tests for persons who previously tested positive for Covid-19. One of the three repeat tests was reported as negative.
This brings the total number of persons with no symptoms and negative results to 11. The other two repeat tests were positive and these patients remain hospitalised, the authorities reported.