Local Doctor says Testing and Knowing which COVID Variant are Critical
By Dana Malcolm & Deandrea Hamilton
Magnetic Media
#TurksandCaicos, January 15, 2022 – “Everyone should be tested and no one should assume that only the more “mild” Omicron variant of the Coronavirus is running wild in the Turks and Caicos”, said Dr. Darren Hall, president of the Turks and Caicos Medical Association and owner of FamilyCare Medical.
Dr. Hall, in an interview with Magnetic Media said testing should be ramped up and knowing the variant of Covid-19 with which the Turks and Caicos is dealing could be life-saving.
With no information on what variant is affecting who, Hall while says testing everyone is critical, he described the testing and reporting regime currently in place as cumbersome saying,
“I think testing could be improved. We have this back and forth with people going to testing at different locations and then going back to the Ministry of Health…people are queuing up at different locations. How much of that is contributing to the problem?”
He noted that over the last few weeks at least half of the positive cases he has seen were asymptomatic and a fairly large number of positive cases were vaccinated.
The Turks and Caicos has seen a major surge in Covid-19 infections over the past few weeks. The National Public Health Lab has caught more than 1,628 new infections from December to now and with hundreds of samples returned from overseas clinics, Health officials have warned that that number will grow.
Six people have died as a result of Covid-19 complications between December 1 to January 14 and hospitalisations peaked at six, which reflected a 600 per cent increase in COVID related admissions.
Turks and Caicos also recorded its first and second deaths to the coronavirus of vaccinated individuals during the month of January, with Salt Cay reporting Covid-19 infections for the first time since the pandemic started.
Dr. Hall said while there was likely a sufficient amount of testing kits to serve the population human labor was the issue. Hall said the private sector was overwhelmed with their duties to non-Covid patients as well as vaccination and testing and would likely not be able to assist with more robust levels community testing.
“To specifically concentrate on community surveillance is a bit of a challenge at this time.”
At least four prominent variants of Sars CoV-2 or the Coronavirus have been picked up in Turks and Caicos, among them the UK Strain (Alpha Variant); the Brazilian strain; the Mu virus and world’s deadliest, Delta Virus.
Hall warned “I don’t think we can categorically say there is no more Delta. Persons have to be cognizant of that so you’re positive. But positive for what? We have to bear in mind what results a spread could have On the unprotected.”
Hall maintained that the country needs to come up with a solution that controls COVID through vigilance or monitoring. He said “It’s out there. It’s just whether or not we’re ready for it.”