TRINIDAD and Tobago still has many critically and severely ill patients requiring ventilation, dialysis, and other forms of care within the parallel healthcare system.
This was according to Principal Medical Officer Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards at the Ministry of Health’s Virtual Media Conference on Monday.
Dr Abdool-Richards said current level of occupancy for persons in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and High Dependency Unit (HDU) were 80% and 72% respectively.
She said, “This is an excellent reason to be vaccinated, to prevent ourselves, our family, and our relatives from being warded in a hospital and especially in the intensive care unit and the high dependency unit.”
Dr Abdool-Richards also said that due to the nine of the 16 hospital facilities reaching the critical 75% occupancy this morning, eight of them were also currently under the 75% and all seven of the step-down facilities being consistently under 75%.
Dr Abdool-Richards said people should get vaccinated to curb the spread of the virus and stated that her reasons for getting vaccinated included protection of her family, friends, and co-workers as well as returning to sports, and getting a sense of normalcy.
