24 June, 2020 - The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Trinidad and Tobago Country Office recently donated 4,000 nasopharyngeal swabs and 6 laptops to the Ministry of Health to support their capacity for testing, collection, and processing of clinical and epidemiological data for COVID-19.
PAHO/WHO Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Country Representative, Dr. Erica Wheeler, met with The Honorable Minister of Health, Terrence Deyalsingh to hand over the swabs, which are used for conducting the COVID-19 tests, and the laptops which will be utilized specifically to enhance COVID-19 surveillance through the collection of all COVID-19 patients’ pertinent data to:
- Monitor geographic spread, intensity of transmission, and severity trends of transmission of COVID-19 over time
- Understand the risk factors for disease and transmission
- Systematically monitor the evolution of the COVID-19 virus; and
- Assess severity and impact on the health system
PAHO/WHO was also able to provide support for a designated data collection focal point at the clinical institution involved in the care of COVID-19 clients.
