STATEMENT from MSJMC Re Recent Death of Hospital Employee Due to COVID-19
St. John’s Antigua, December 13, 2020 – Mount St. John’s Medical Centre confirms that a healthcare worker has died after contracting COVID-19.
The patient, a forty-six (46) year old female hospital employee who has been on vacation since mid November, was admitted to the hospital on December 10, with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.(ARDS). As a part of enhanced protocols for patients with ARDS at the hospital, a swab test for COVID-19 was done which confirmed our diagnosis. The patient was stabilized and transferred to the Infectious Disease Centre (IDC) for monitoring. Over the next forty-eight (48) hours, the patient’s symptoms began worsening, at which time she was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at MSJMC where she continued in respiratory failure and ultimately succumbed to her illness.
“We want to extend our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the patient”, said Dr. Albert Duncan, MSJMC Medical Director.
“I urge the media and the public to respect their privacy at this difficult time. Our hospital along with other healthcare authorities will continue our efforts to interrupt the transmission of this virus. It will take all of us, collectively to succeed. We urge everyone to please continue to follow public health advice.”
Mount St. John’s Medical Centre shares this information in order to remain transparent to our MSJMC family and the community, but our information is limited to honor the privacy of our colleague and her family.
We do not know the source of the infection with certainty. However, as with all positive COVID-19 cases, the appropriate public health officials are doing the necessary contact tracing.
EARLIER REPORT:
Antigua has recoded another COVID-19-related death.
PM Browne: I was informed earlier today, that we had another COVID fatality. The transmission was from a returning national, who exposed her mother to the virus, by not adhering to the health protocols. SMDH
ANR understands that the woman was hospitalized on the day of the diagnosis. She died today.
ANR further understand that a close family member of the woman has also tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
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Melchesidec December 6, 2020 at 11:17 pm
The increase in Corona cases and deaths is to scare the ones into begging for the vaccine.
Watch out for some tricky psychological language.
To prevent push back the vaccine will not be mandatory. However
The ones will not be able to function normally unless you have roof of taking the vaccine.
Prepare to get uncomfortable if you decide the vaccine is not for you.
Reply
AvatarMelchesidec December 6, 2020 at 11:24 pm
Since the recovery rate is so high without any special regimen why a vaccine?
If you will die eventually and this vaccine will not allow you to live for ever what’s the point in taking it.
How many different types of vaccines can a human body tolerate safely?
Where is the research on the effects of different combination of vaccines on the body?
Boss do you really believe what you type?
I think this government is lying. I don’t believe it was no returning national. So how is it that the daughter is who infected the mother how come she is not reported as a covid case?
Antigua needs to stop lying .. a lot of Antiguans in Antigua have covid and it’s not from returning national . Returning nationals needs to have a NEGATIVE covid test to enter the country so how did she get in the country with a negative
The test can be taken 7 days prior to arrival, the virus can be contracted within said 7 days and this negative person can indeed be positive at the time of arrival🤥.
I’m a returned National and I’ve been cursed because I choose to follow protocol and stayed away from family n friends, some of us feel cause we are antiguans we should be exempt from governance.
Thank you for doing the right thing & protecting your family, friends & the public from potential infection.
You are right, as the incubation period is 4-11 days, you won’t know if you’re clear until after that period. Thank you for setting a good example for us all.
Best wishes for a healthy end of quarantine and a good Christmas.
Are you one of those with Covid?
Gaston says SMDH? Why the hell are we not testing these arrivals at the airport and then again after 4-5 days of mandatory quarantine? That would cut down on the possibility of this happening tremendously. Barbados is doing it successfully. Seems that we are doing our utmost best to avoid testing anyone. Don’t say SMDH if there is more that can be done by testing arrivals but you refuse to do it!!
This is on the PM and his cabinet full of incompetent morons
Why are they not testing on arrival?
And this is not the 5th covid death in Antigua. This is only the 5th that they are counting but there have been dozens more.
I was thinking the same damn thing test everyone upon arrival at the airport these are our borders and we have to protect ourselves anyone who doesn’t want to take the test at the airport should stay where they are this testing negative before arrival really isn’t working the dashboard shows more imported.
This thing is real. Point her daughter can have a negative test to board the plane. The is narrow and you can pick it up on the way even coming thru the airport. Rules must me followed thru quarantine it’s simple as that. No one knows but a fact whatever it is that virus is real and not playing. SIP sister my JAH guide the family thru these hard and difficult times.
@Susan G. You say Antigua needs to stop lying.I say,Gaston Browne the liar needs to stop Lying to the people.She was a Hospital Employee.They do not know the source of her infection.Perhaps they should ask the man with the moustache.He knows of all things.He has the answers to all things.Except how to generate finances to pay the Pensioners on time in Antigua and Barbuda.There are Pensioners at Social Security.Still awaiting their November 2020 pensions, today 12/13/2020.
This is what Moses went through? It is difficult to please people, you dawn know that revenues are down because of covid-19 and yet you are still expect government to pay people on time.
Gaston Browne is not Moses. He could not fit into Moses’ jack strap. Revenues were not always down. He squandered the financial resources of the State. Now Covid-19 is here. It exposes him and his shortcomings. Like the Emperor with no clothes.
I agreee I know if this information and you are right that’s what I meant to say… it’s just horrible how they lie and simple minded Antiguans believe
GASTON IS LYING PEOPLE ARE NOT COMING TO ANTIGYA WITH COVID !!! COVID IS IN ANTIGUA.
The government is NOT TESTING the population. If you need a covid test in Antigua you CANNOT GET ONE and they are not testing on arrival. All they do is blame returning residents and it’s local Antiguans who have no testing are the cause.
Also there are a bunch of Antiguans who have cold and sinus and coughing and sneezing who are still going into work
Am I missing something here? Perhaps FROM THE SIDELINE, Carson B, Pete or Phillip G can help me. I thought the infectious disease unit at the Holberton hospital was fitted out with ventilators and all sorts of equipment to deal with seriously ill covid patients. Why therefore was this patient moved to the ICU at MSJMC. What is the explanation here?
For real, so much money spent for a care center that has failed in managing the mild and now the critical..SMDH
Everything is so secret here.
i was also wondering why there are still 72 medical professionals from Cuba to manage the pandemic when Antigua supposedly has very few cases.
That is all
RIP lady
Can someone ask gaston clowne to stop commenting on these sensitive issues? Firstly, his tone is unbecoming. Secondly, many of us don’t believe half of what he says. Thirdly, he always want to be the first to break “the news”, is he a goddam reporter?
Condolences to the family, the sporting fraternity and health care workers.
This whole pandemic management scheme has been farcical.
We all know there are many more cases around than being reported and many more deaths.
We all know this government is hiding cases, deaths, and information.
Then, suddenly PM Clown wants to reveal private information that the mom got it from her daughter, a returning national? So he can blame his favorite scapegoats – Black and brown folks.
There would be no COVID here were it not for the mismanagement of this administration. Were they not begging for tourists to come here from high COVID countries. If they didnt refuse to test on arrival and quarantine EVERYONE.
Half-a$$ed protocols requiring quarantine of SOME returning nationals does not work and makes no sense.
Everyone who comes here must be tested on arrival and quarantined and tested again. Period.
If there’s anyone to blame for this woman’s death it is the PM and his incompetent government.
At some point when this is all over, there will be an accounting of how many people actually died (excess mortality rate) and how many people have been left with permanent effects of this virus. And there will be no denying from anyone that this administration and this PM are abject failures who cost many lives.
The PM is so crass!!!
For some of the other sudden deaths, re-testing via alternative modalities needs to be done!! When we find out that we have been misdiagnosing persons who don’t present as overt ARDS because of the many nuances surrounding testing, let me see if he will be the first to run go tell that!!
“ANR understands that the woman was hospitalized on the day of the diagnosis. She died today.”
And especially ALL ARRIVING visitors and nationals then cases like this would be caught early before spreading to many other people AND early treatment could be given which would save lives.
Same thing with the Venezuelan national. Had they tested and quarantined the guy on arrival, he might have gotten some early medical care and not died.
Sympathies…..RIP my sistah
Again, when will we clamp down on persons coming from high COVID-burden areas, during this 2nd wave, as we do not have INFINITE testing capabilities?
Again, how many ICU beds do we have? Again, our frontline industry workers will get sick, be it health, bordercontrol or tourism. And death is a reality that we have now seen five times (& today’s death hit home HARD), so do we wait for ‘the realities of high burden areas’ to become ‘our’ reality?
I do not understand why everyone that comes into antigua cannot be tested 5-7 days after arrival to confirm the results they brought in. If negative then they can come out of quarantine. And if positive then we can act accordingly.
Imagine when people come in they are sent home and asked to quarantine and check their temperature everyday and text a nurse. How is that enough for monitoring the situation? Suppose i just text my “nurse” the standard normal tempt everyday. How can you confirm that isnt the case? Also their are people that show no symptoms.
People come in everyday from the states and so. They bring test results but those tests could be up to 7 days old. Thats not a proper indicator.
Additionally it cannot only be returning nationals when so many tourist come in, so there is no possibility that any of them have covid? The hotel workers aren’t tested regularly. The hospital staff is not tested at all. This is a pathetic showing.
Some people that come in quarantine but others are out and about within 2 days.
There are probably 100x more tourists coming in every day than returning nationals.
That means the chance of a tourist bringing disease here Is much greater since there are so many more of them.
And tourists are not separate from us. They shop alongside us. The eat at restaurants with us. They go to bars with us. They go to local banks. They have sex with local prostitutes and other willing locals. They interact with hotel staff, tour guides, beach folk.
EVERYONE that comes in needs to be tested and quarantined and tested again. EVERYONE!!
There was an outbreak at Sandals in Grenada, which they know about because they actually test hotel workers.
Here we just hide cases and employ illogical strategies
People as terrible you may think the government may be at handling this global pandemic reliable sources have said that the country would have feared far worse if it were HFWL and the UPP we had as leader.
If the party not in power would have done worse? Maybe they would have, maybe they wouldn’t have.
The only thing that matters is what is being done now and that it is not enough.
And it’s time to course correct.
Really? Reliable, as in the Holy Ghost?
Since you went there, know that even if all Governments may fudge info and many Governments have unseen agendas, the little trump that is now pm, is one for the records. Please don’t get me started on that vain minister of health who is deluded into believing that he is lord of all. That megalomanic minister puts sound reasoning secondary to advancing his glory and his honor, worse he is a stranger to the truth and needs to GO.
Much more reliable than the UPP (US Official) that stated that the CDC would not have changed Antigua and Barbuda’s Covid ranking! You remember the statement from that source?
Just Saying your comment is absolutely nonsensical. “Reliable sources have said …..” What reliable sources? You guys just make all kinds of unfounded statements as a result of your blind allegiance to the ALP.
I can understand your apprehension in believing after the UPP (US Official) would have gotten it woefully wrong when he stated that the CDC would not changed the ranking. You remember that?
The consensus is clear. ABLP led by Gaston Browne has been a failure since this pandemic has reached the shores of Antigua. Barbuda still COVID free. Trevor doing a better job than the PM. Gaston you’re time is up. Call the election so that the people can fire you and your Cabinet.
The prime minister is on social media mocking her death and blaming her daughter?
Unbelievable.
@ Just Saying. Reliable sources also say that a particular person would have been better off if affiliated with someone else other than you. How does that sound? How foolish can some people be?? A serious issues this and politics have to be involved. It’s like Trump always blaming Obama for everything. These reliable sources should like lottery tickets or tell us the exact date of Jesus’s return. SMH
…Hell cannot be this confusing!
Or, at least what best describes it.
The year of COVID-19 aka 2020 can also be described, as a #LivingHell for many in HUE-manity!
And, with this #NewDrug called Social media it’s a living nightmare.
Now, from reading the social media post, of the Leader of Our Nation, PM Browne in these trying times as in #Plan? #Pan? #Epi? DEMIC about the death of a parent, and attempting to lay blame at a child of that parent feet is heartless, and cruel. It’s that simple. I can’t be much clearer.
At times, PM Browne should put his brains in gear, before he put his mouth in motion, and ends up stuffing his own foot in his mouth.
Condolences to the Family of the deceased! Death is just a #Window of Transition, whose shadow leaves its memory behind, etched into the walls of our thoughts!
RASpect….
I listen to the CMO today and she said about 20 persons the deceased have been in contact with, i read an article last that the PM said the cases of covid might increase in the 20’s . When he said in the 20’s i said to myself why 20? My mind tell me it is alot of covering up taking place. How strange it is that he said there might be and increase in the 20’s and the medical officer said the deceased has been in contact with about 20 persons so they know prior whats going on that why they on the same numbers
Antigua is up in arms about covid. Yet there are local Antiguans who are reporting to work sick. Coughing and sneezing saying oh is a cold I have! When they have not been tested and are putting co workers at risk and then they will turn around and say oh I didn’t know. Employers and Employees and the government need to do better but u guess everybody care more about the all mighty dollar.
Ans would prefer to blame retuning nationals.
Mainly excellent points from commentators. To summarize, questions needing answers:
1. Is the special oxygen air pressurizing system at Infectious Disease Unit in working order?
2. How many ventilators at IDiseaseU are in working order?
3. Does MSJMC have a hermetically sealed, separate HVAC system to main hospital, contagious/infectious ICU room?
4. Does MSJMC have a decontamination room immediately outside said specialist infectious ICU room for team members?
5. Do MSJMC ICU staff that treat infectious/contagious cases also work with general ICU patients on the open ICU ward?
6. Is the PM exempt from the ‘one message’ protocol put in place by Sir Molwyn & CMO specifically to reduce misinformation & respect patient/family privacy?
(Admittedly, many of us question the veracity of statistics presented based on lack of meaningful testing but that doesn’t get into peoples personal business).
Looking forward to clear, straightforward, honest answers on the above, this week, from Sir Molwyn, under who’s remit as Minister of Health, he is responsible to account to we the people.
Tourism is our main industry, safety should come first at all times, we need the money to make a living. More tourist comes to Antigua than the population of Antigua itself, which could put our citizens at risk. I think alot of lies has been dispersed from our authorities and they try to put most of the blame on the citizens and returning nationals. Tourist come here to spend money they allow special dispensation for tourist at times.I am not against tourism but against hypocritical decisions laws and regulations. One size should fit all where the law is concerned
I don’t believe for a second that she caught it from her daughter, I believe she caught it right here in Antigua from another local living here.
HOW MANY OF YOU WOULD GO TO A TESTING CENTRE IF THE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED IT IS TESTING EN MASSE?
@D Real Test…☝️☝️☝️I would. I’ve being in contact with folks who’ve had it and recovered, and this has being since back in March.
I am quite sure, that since then I’ve come across someone who had it, touch something that someone who had, have it touched.
This shit is all around Us!
And, as the reports from 2019 have being stating, it’s being amongst us HUE-mans since then. But I do get the “EN MASSE” hysteria!
From MSJMC, other doctors, and government workers to expose the lies that this government is telling about COVID.
We need brave people to come forward and save lives by telling the truth about what is going on, on this island.
There is COVID throughout this island because of how recklessly the borders were opened up with absolutely no meaningful regulations in place to deal with thousands of disease vectors traveling from high COVID areas.
In fact, the government begged those people to come.
And at the same time the MOH and PM lied for months and months that the island was “COVID free” with “no community spread.”
That is exactly why the average Antiguan is not taking this pandemic seriously. Because their leaders repeatedly told them that COVID was not a big deal here.
And then to add insult to injury, the awful, ignorant, idiotic PM with no class or morals gets on Facebook yesterday and blames the daughter of a healthcare worker who literally just died that day for causing the death. Publicly shames the victim’s daughter.
What a f@cking a$$hole extraordinaire.
But the truth is that this lady’s death and the many others that have been covered up and not reported are squarely on the shoulders of the PM who from the outset decided that tourist $$$ and pleasing the wealthy resort owners (who have him in their back pocket) was more important than the rest of our lives.
This is on you PM. This in on you!
Shame on you for bringing more pain to that family yesterday. You are a disgrace.
Stop being hysterical.
And you should be too
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