Relative of covid19 victim slams treatment: Not how it should be

A relative of two covid19 positive patients, one of who has died, is criticising the government’s treatment of patients at its various facilities.

The woman, who asked not to be named due to fear of victimisation, will be referred to as Sherry in this article to protect her identity.

Sherry said one male relative died less than eight hours after being taken to the Caura Hospital.

“He drove to a facility because he was experiencing symptoms, he usually has sinus symptoms, he went about a week and a half after he realised that the sinus issues weren’t going away and he started developing a fever the day before he went. He was not swabbed, they didn’t give him anything, but took a chest X-Ray and they said they were taking him to the hospital but took him to the wrong hospital.”

She said he was taken to three different facilities before he was admitted to the Caura Hospital.

“If you saw that he had a very bad chest X-Ray, why wasn’t he taken to a facility where he could be treated?" Sherry asked.

"If it was so bad that he died eight hours after being in there, that means he was in critical condition and needed to be in ICU."

Sherry said, initially, health officials told him they would take him to Mt Hope hospital, then Arima Hospital. When he got to the latter, they never took him out of the ambulance but then took him to Caura.

"He got to Caura and he spoke to the family about 10.30 or11:30 pm and after that we did not hear from him. He said no doctor spoke to him. Less than eight hours later we got a call that there was an emergency and we had to come."

Sherry claimed medical personnel had found her relative unresponsive which, to her, meant that he hadn't been tended to while in distress.

"He needed to be in a place where he could be monitored and given treatment.”

She also decried the process through which she claimed her male relative was buried. She said even though the family had been in contact with him up to eight hours before he died, they were not allowed to view the body.

“Even though the Prime Minister said ten people could attend a funeral, the funeral home said only three people could attend the cremation, either two family members and a minister, or three family members.

"We had to walk around the back of the building, it was muddy, there was water, rubbish, broken pots, etc. It’s not a place that’s sanitised or encouraging cleanliness. They put the box halfway through the door, you stand outside, they give you three minutes to say prayers and you leave.”

Sherry said after that relative’s death on August 10, it took four days for the family to be tested.

“They called the next day to say the post-mortem swab was positive and advised the family to call the 800-WELL number to make an appointment to go get swabbed. We never got through with that number.

"Until today no-one in authority called the family to offer any kind of counselling or advice on anything. When we went to get tested, they told us to go home and quarantine. Five days later, they called to tell another male relative that he was positive and took him to Caura on August 15.”

She said that relative told her that doctors monitored the patients by phone calls from private numbers, while the nurses check blood pressure and temperature only.

“In Caura, you’re put into a room with six to eight people at a time, the social distancing is a bed-length apart.”

She said the relative was moved to a step-down facility on August 23 but claimed that facility was short-staffed and patients were not getting their meals on time.

Up to Monday, Sherry said, the remaining family members had not yet received their results. She said when her male relative was informed he was positive, he asked if the other family members were negative but the health official could not provide that information.

“From what they’re saying to us, if they don’t call you, you can assume it’s negative but that’s still not accurate to be telling people."

Sherry said the Health Ministry was aware of the situation and would be launching an investigation.

“They’re basically saying that’s not how it’s supposed to be but they’re not correcting it.”