Trinidad Strengthens Lockdown Due To Increase in COVID-19 Cases

Trinidad and Tobago face stricter COVID-19 measures on Monday after Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced that the country had seen a concerning spike in COVID-19 cases.

RELATED: 

Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Tests Positive For COVID-19

Last Thursday alone the country recorded 328 COVID-19 contagions. Under these new lockdown measures which will last until May 23, Rowley said, adding that there will be no fetes or parties and all places of worship will be closed. 

Tobago will also operate in isolation with only three flights being allowed to operate during the day. Mask wearing has been made mandatory and people will only be allowed to gather in groups of five.

Currently, the country has  11,471 cases and has had 179 fatalities. Rowley, who was confirmed COVID-19 positive on April 6th, said that the healthcare system is in jeopardy of being overrun because of the climbing rate of infection. 

The country with a population of 1.3 million people has been managing the pandemic well with less than half of the global average per capita. On April 28, however, there were 150 hospitalized patients.

The Government has also announced that police can end activities at private residences if they are in contravention of the COVID-19 measures. Rowley warned that people have relaxed adherence to epidemiological safety measures since vaccination began.

Thus far, 44,810 Trinidadians have received the COVID-19 vaccine. Recently, Rowley announced that his administration will concentrate its efforts on immunizing those who have not yet received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.