Ministry of Health Virtual Media Conference on COVID-19 - Monday July 20th 2020

Key Points From The Ministry Of Health’s Virtual Media Conference on COVID-19 – Monday July 20th 2020: - S.E.A. Classes for Standard 5 students resumed this morning. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Roshan Parasram encouraged parents, teachers, principals and students to adhere to the Ministry of Education’s COVID-19 Guidelines for schools. - From today, bars will be allowed to open until 10PM. Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh suggested bar/restaurant operators institute a “last call” system well before closing time to ensure their establishments are empty of patrons by 10PM. - Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh confirmed that the TT Nationals who recently returned from Grenada will be re-swabbed today and their results will be shared with the Minister of Health of Grenada. Minister Deyalsingh said there are implications for Grenada since those TT Nationals who tested Positive on their return were said to have mingled freely about in Grenada. - Campaign Managers for all political parties are urged to ensure their walkabouts, cottage meetings and political gatherings remain within the 25-person limit. They must also ensure they are wearing masks. - 164 persons remain quarantined at various facilities in T&T. The following is the breakdown: CASCADIA: 44 CHANCELLOR HOTEL: 12 HOME OF FOOTBALL: 39 UWI DEBE CAMPUS: 48 TACARIGUA: 21 - These 164 quarantined persons should be out of the State facilities by the time of the General Election on August 10th. However, they were still given forms to register as a ‘Special Voter’ in the event they test Positive before August 10th. - Professor Christine Carrington, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Virology and Head of the Department of Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, addressed immunity to COVID-19. Experts are still debating whether individuals can be reinfected with the virus after their recovery. Dr. Carrington noted that there are still many unknowns on COVID-19 but she said any conclusion on reinfection would be premature at this stage. She noted that so far, there are no reinfection cases in the world and what seemed to be reports of reinfection in recovered patients, could be “viral debris” or “non-infectious particles.” - A combined total of 7,608 Community Tests administered at both the public and private sector labs.