Ministry of Health acquires PCR machine, enabling more testing to be done locally and reducing reliance on CARPHA

In its ongoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health has added a PCR machine to its arsenal.

This now allows the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre to process additional virus tests, and lessens reliance upon the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) for assistance.

According to Health officials, the Trinidad-based institution has imposed limits on the number of tests that any single Caribbean country can submit in a week.

Meanwhile, in order to boost its contact-tracing capabilities, the Ministry has sought the services of 10 medical doctors.  However, they have not yet commenced their internships to assist an already overwhelmed contact-tracing team.

Chief Medical Officer Rhonda Sealy-Thomas says adding these doctors is still not sufficient, given that the number of sick and infected persons continues to increase almost daily.