Stay Home
After the sixth coronavirus death in T&T, I spoke to a local doctor who said given the ‘embarrassingly scant’ testing (595 on April 1), the medical fraternity couldn’t assess coronavirus spread accurately except they are sure there is a community spread after the return of 20,000 people from infected countries.
With half the world in lockdown (3.9 billion), global positive cases doubled to one million in the last eight days, and a global death toll nearing 60,000, we know we won’t be spared.
Local medics say with a conservative estimate of 50 per cent infection rate, 750,000 infected and a global mortality of two per cent, 15,000 Trinis could die.
Of those infected, 80 per cent will be mild. Ten-15 per cent will be hospitalised, and between one-five per cent may need intensive care. We reportedly have 450 beds max, 138 ventilators and are expecting 4,000 tests from China.
When I saw New York hospitals were packing COVID corpses in refrigerated vans, that 23 people died every hour over the last 24 hours (April 3), bringing the total to 2,935, I called up a Trini doctor who works in a New York hospital for an interview.
He told me what we could face here in T&T in ICU in weeks. “I’m a 25-year-old Trinidadian doctor in residency in a New York Hospital. This virus must have had community spread long before the first case was announced so from being a regular hospital, we are now treating COVID-19 cases solely.
“Our ICU wards are filled with them--mostly overweight, diabetic, hypertensive men in their 50s, 60s and 70s. Doctors arrive on our shifts wearing protective goggles, N95 masks, gowns, surgical caps, respirators but it doesn’t mean it is not hitting doctors, nurses or technicians from secretions.
“Without a cure, everyone is on edge. We’ve lost the patient-physician interaction as we observe and treat ICU COVID-19 patients through glass doors. Patients are intubated, sedated, paralysed with chemical agents. Some pull on the tube causing more damage.
Nobody can open their eyes. “We see organ and lung failure, inflammation, and septic shock. Everyone needs a ventilator.
“They are ill in different ways-- maybe fallen and come to Emergency, and test positive. Others start with body ache, have a dry cough, fever, and on the fifth or sixth day are symptomatic, acutely short of breath and hypoxic, and are intubated.
“Many have no history of contact and more than 25 per cent of infected people show no symptoms before they collapse.
“No visitors are allowed. When patients are dying, we call the family and tell them ‘he is dying, but you can’t see him.’ They all say they are praying, but every intubated patient dies.
“People who call me and say, ‘I think I have corona,’ I tell them, “If you are coughing, feverish but stable stay home, stay alone, stay in a room. Don’t speak to people and try and ride it out. Don’t rush to get tested; don’t expose yourself and others by going to a hospital. The hospital should be reserved for people who need to be intubated to help them breathe. Everyone, assume you have it. Stay home and build your immune system with home exercise. Keep your weight down, eat healthy, sleep properly. Treat your body like you’re preparing for battle.
“The only way to stop the spread is to stay home. You only need a trickle of community spread for widespread devastation.
“Testing in T&T or no testing, stay home. Isolate as if you have it. A vaccine may take years. No one knows what we are dealing with. “We are following recommendations to treat it but it’s poor data. Seeing daily deaths in the ICU, corpses in vans, no one extubated is beyond terrifying. I wish I could send a picture.
“I learned the hard way to assume it’s possible for anyone to have it. I was in a room with a surgical mask for a person with a broken arm and I was exposed. He was positive. Many patients have no exposure, no history and have it just by moving about, touching surfaces, breathing near infected people. The virus sticks everywhere, to everything; to your hair, shoes, hands. That’s terrifying. It will get us all. Everyone will lose someone they love. Stay home.”