Principal Nursing Officer, Mrs. Terrilia Ravaliere provided a comprehensive update on the status of the Covid-19 care complex in Portsmouth. According to her, the facility is a collection of nine retrofitted facilities, dedicated to isolating and treating patients who have been diagnosed with Covid-19.
Ravaliere explained, “For the period July 25th 2021 to August 26th 2021, the facility managed an average of 406 patients on a daily basis with an average of 67 patients being admitted per day.” She expounded that, as of August 27th 2021, 417 individuals were admitted to the different units. Of this total, 124 individuals were experiencing moderate to severe symptoms while 293 individuals were experiencing mild symptoms.
She noted that a high percentage of patients admitted suffer from chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and chronic kidney diseases.
Ravaliere explained that a mix of medical and non-medical personnel have been tasked with providing the necessary care for the Covid-19 patients admitted at these network of facilities. These personnel include individuals who work at the Calls center, support staff, a nutritionist and a data management team, among others.
Moreover, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. David Johnson confirmed that there is currently a total of four Covid-19 related deaths. These include a seventy-year-old male with an underlying condition, a seventy-eight year old male with an underlying condition and a seventy-four year old female with an underlying condition.
Dr. Johnson reiterated the protocols and urged businesses to do regular testing, encourage vaccination of employees and to practice safety measures. According to him, the Ministry of Health, Wellness and New Heath Investment reserves the right to temporarily shut down any business which exposes a risk to its employees or the general public.
Additionally, he advised that everyone should get vaccinated. After analyzing the worldwide evidence on vaccinations, he expressed, “Vaccination works.” Dr. Johnson confirmed that no one in Dominica has died from the vaccine neither has any fully vaccinated person died from the Covid-19 virus.
To end, the health care officials avowed that as time progresses they will continue to provide optimum care to the best of their ability.
