Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Rhonda Sealy-Thomas says on-island testing for COVID-19 will begin locally shortly; however, she admits that not everyone will be tested when this service comes on stream.
Once the local lab opens, testing will not be done randomly, Sealy-Thomas says. Rather, it will be undertaken in a coordinated manner, with suspected cases and healthcare professionals given priority.
On Tuesday, government spokesperson Lionel “Max” Hurst admitted to the Nation that he could not give a specific date when testing would commence on island and blamed the training delays for the absence of local testing.
Hurst says they never anticipated that virtual training would have been this difficult. He adds that PAHO representatives are also unable to leave Washington at this time, since airlines are not flying, to assess those being trained here.
According to Hurst, the Government has already done everything it needs to do, such as sourcing the relevant equipment for the lab and stocking up on reagents.
Antigua & Barbuda has recorded 24 confirmed laboratory cases, with three deaths, to date. Giving an update on the infection rate, Dr. Sealy-Thomas says more than half of the confirmed cases have not been hospitalized, but were treated at home.
She says two persons remain in critical condition at the Intensive Care Unit of the Mount St. John Medical Centre.
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Why is this news ANR. So the CMO changed the phrase ‘next week’ to ‘shortly’ which can be later this afternoon to mid summer. Why waste valuable AD space with this.
Unbelievable lol… still no date in mind. Nothing to see here… Maybe if they had properly accounted for all earnings, they wouldn’t have to constantly beg for loans or grants, and could have funded testing long ago. Sad that this is still an issue in 2020. Stay safe everybody, it’s going to be a long ride with this nonsense going on.
When testing?? Have not heard any updates since May 3rd!!!
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