TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO PRIME MINISTER BLAMES ‘DOTISHNESS’ FOR COVID SURGE

By Staff Writer

Condemning what he called “unbelievable acts of dotishness”, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago this week put the country back under immediate lockdown after a new spike in COVID-19 cases.

The tough response came after a surge this past week, going from 84 new cases on Sunday and increasing daily to 328 by Thursday when Prime Minister Keith Rowley issued the lockdown order.

On Friday another 326 cases were recorded.

“The only thing we can do now in Trinidad and Tobago to evade a disaster brought on by COVID-19 in its second year is to intervene and to interrupt the distribution of the virus among the population,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Rowley voiced concern that many people were letting down their guard by not adhering to the country’s social distancing, mask-wearing and other safety protocols.

He called that behaviour “unbelievable acts of dotishness”.

By Friday there were 2,174 active cases with 173 persons hospitalised with the infection.

Since its first COVID-19 case was recorded in March last year, Trinidad and Tobago has seen 169 deaths attributed to the COVID-19 virus and a total of 10,284 to date.

The COVID-19 dashboard of the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Health, shows that daily positive cases went from 84 on Sunday, 120 - Monday, 151 - Tuesday, 223 - Wednesday, 328 - Thursday, and 326 new cases on Friday.

Prime Minister Rowley himself recently tested positive and went into isolation but did not suffer the full effect of the disease

“I do consider myself lucky,” he said, pressing the point for his fellow citizens and residents of the twin-island republic to take the endemic more seriously.

However, there has been a strong pushback to the lockdown from the business community, many of whom say the measures are draconian and will put the already-struggling economy under further strain.