Turks & Caicos Islander demands better for COVID patients; no food or water for days

#Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – August 6, 2020 — At least two patients under government quarantine have reached out to say they are not being fed, have no drinking water and have no idea when they will be able to leave the facility, despite having spent nearly three weeks in isolation.

A 60-year-old Haitian woman and a 53-year- old Haitian man are being held at the Beach House and are angered and confused by the ill-treatment they are receiving while in the care of the Turks and Caicos Ministry of Health.

Magnetic Media has reached out to the Ministry of Health about the complaint and some efforts are being made to try and rectify the situation.

Still it is outrageous to those who know the 60-year old woman, a devout church member and legal work permit holder that the older lady is forced to stay put and had not received any meals for over two days. 

“We need to treat people better than this.  This is just wrong!  How could you hold people at the hotel and not feed them for days?  Ministry of Health needs to treat people better than this.  Even for a dog tied under a tree in your yard, you would make sure it had food and water,” said Bloneva Greene, friend of the woman who brought the matter to our attention.

We will use the COVID patient’s middle name – Simone – in the story, for the sake of privacy.

Simone confirmed, via telephone, that she has received the food left with the security officer by her friend.  Simone added that she has shared some of the meal with the 53-year-old man also being held at the Beach House, which is a quarantine facility as he too was desperately hungry.

The pair, housed in separate living quarters, had not eaten in two days.  Both asked Mrs. Greene for drinking water.

It was also disturbing to hear Simone’s comment on how her meals were served before they stopped coming altogether. 

“They left de food on de ground outside the door.”

The man explained he suffers from “sugar” which means he is diabetic.  The man also said he has high blood pressure and kidney problems.

“I don’t get nuttin.  You put me one place, no water, no food nutting.  But you trying to kill me.  Send me home, I will stay.  I watch TV that’s it.  Nobody tell me nuttin every night.  One man come and put something in my nose.  I tell man, excuse me sir, you come here, you don’t give me food, you don’t give me nutting, you tell me I get 19 Covid.  I gat sugar, I gat pressure and I get 19 Covid, I supposed to die?  You put me here, for what?!”

For the sake of anonymity, we will use the surname of the man, which is Jean. 

Mr. Jean said he has already spent 14-days at hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 and now, in government quarantine he finds the treatment is inhumane.

We are also informed that both have had subsequent coronavirus PCR tests; Mr. Jean and Simone say they were each tested twice.

“I really feel for this man too because he is telling me that the Guyanese guy who came to swab him actually said, ‘sick people don’t eat food’.  Come on, how can you tell someone with underlying health conditions who has COVID-19 something like that?  Of course he needs food, he needs nutrition,” fumed Mrs. Greene.

Simone has been at Beach House since Saturday and had a doctor visit on Tuesday.  In that phone call, Simone shared that she told the doctor she was hungry, had not eaten in days and asked when she would be released from the quarantine facility.

The Doctor informed that there would be a phone call to say when she was free to leave, presented Simone with documents which detailed the various tests and check-ups and gave her a vitamin regimen. 

On a sticky note, it was scribbled that Simone ought to have blood work completed in two months.

The physician did not communicate the meaning of the pages and pages of medical information; leaving Simone at a loss about her state of health.  The doctor also had no suggestions about what 60-year-old, Simone should do for food.

Ministry of Health continues to look into the situation; it was said to Magnetic Media only moments ago by TCI Public Health that those in quarantine should have received breakfast this morning.