T&T confirms first case of coronavirus

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(Trinidad Express) – Trinidad and Tobago is reporting its first confirmed inported case of novel coronavirus COVID-19.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh this afternoon disclosed that a patient at the Port of Spain General Hospital had tested positive for the virus.

The patient is a man who resides in Valsayn.

The arrival of the virus had been anticipated for weeks, with the Health Ministry preparing a containment plan with the hope of delaying the spread, and preventing the upheaval that happened in others countries.

However, Wednesday’s declaration of the viral illness by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a pandemic set off a wave of fear across Trinidad and Tobago, with people panic buying supplies similar to the preparation for a coming hurricane.

Up to up 1.30p.m, Deyalsingh was telling the Express that reported of a confirmed case was untrue and that people had to stop spreading fake news, which was spread fear faster than the virus itself.

This week, Jamaica, St Vincent and Guyana announced confirmed cases with the Guyana patient, a woman who travelled from the United States, dying at hospital.

Prior to the announcement today, Deyalsingh said Cabinet had taken the decision to ban all cruise ships from visiting Trinidad and Tobago for the rest of the cruise ship season, in an effort to protect T&T from imported cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

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