A team of Cuban nurses arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Friday to assist this country with its COVID-19 efforts.
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh made the announcement while speaking at the daily virtual media briefing on Saturday.
He said the nurses will be quarantined for a 14-day period before they are deployed.
"The Cuban team of nurses of 11 or 12 did in fact arrive yesterday (Friday). We are happy to welcome them to Trinidad and Tobago. As per protocol, they are going to be quarantined for a period of two weeks just to make sure, just like we did with the contingent from Barbados and Suriname," Deyalsingh said.
The Health Minister added that they are Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses.
He noted that there is a shortage of that skill in T&T and local nurses are being trained.
"Once they get the all clear, then we will have them deployed where we need them. These nurses are specialist ICU nurses. In Trinidad and Tobago, we have a shortage of that skill. They are not taking the job of Trinidad nurses. What we are doing in the interim is also training our local nurses in ICU management."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health said in its 4 pm clinical update on May 2, 2020, confirmed that the number of positive cases remains at 116, with eight deaths.
To date, 1,838 samples have been submitted for testing, with 1,517 unique patient tests completed and 312 repeated tests. 
The Ministry said 88 people have been discharged to date, with one additional person discharged from the Home of Football in Couva.
Currently, six patients are still at the Couva Hospital and there are no patients at Caura Hospital.
The Ministry said there are no patients in ICU or HDU. 
Source:  The Loop, May 3, 2020

Tony was a renaissance man, excelling as an actor, presenter, director, scriptwriter, playwright, teacher, dramaturge and mentor who played a critical role in the development of the Trinidad production company, Banyan, and its position in local television. I first interacted with Tony in 1976 when he played a lead part in Derek Walcott’s musical “O Babylon!” Tony’s stature was such that he was already being recognised as heir apparent to Walcott , but he also had a career in community theatre beckoning in Canada. Enter Banyan, which had just been awarded a major grant by the International Planned Parenthood Federation to produce a thirteen-part “education” television series “Who The CAP Fits”. Thus began an over forty-year relationship that only concluded with his recent sad death. 
Tony’s community theatre approach encouraged audience involvement and improvisation; when married with social commentary and the humour and satire of early Banyan programmes, a new style was born. So “CAP” started with no script, but a handful of leading local actors and young talent who worked with Tony as they developed their characters. This was followed by improvised acting sessions, and gradually a script was born. This technique was used in countless other Banyan series and programmes such as “Morral”, “Epiphany” and a similar collaborative approach was used in the “Gayelle” magazine series and the award winning “And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon” with the wonderful pairing of Tony and Errol Sitahal. 
Tony played the leading role in the local film, “Obeah” (1987) – initially known as “The Haunting of Avril” – which was directed by Hugh Robertson ( of “Bim”). Unfortunately, the film is still awaiting post-production funds, and it would be a great tribute to Tony if the Government or private sector would pay for the completion of this film. The trinidad+tobago film festival would love to screen it! 
Tony always had great plans to complete major film projects such as a film version of his play, “Jean and Dinah”, and a major documentary on the life of Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael). Unfortunately, he did not receive the support for these and many other worthy cultural projects which he developed. 
At the height of Banyan’s success, I mused on the role of the main contributors and recognised that while each of us (Tony, Christopher Laird and I) had unique skills and talents, you couldn’t compare our individual accomplishments to the energy and creativity that emerged when we worked together as Banyan. I said it was like the Beatles. Tony laughed.
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Michael Tony Hall was a Trinidadian actor, playwright, director and presenter. Among his many achievements, in 2002, Hall, Bruce Paddington and Christopher Laird, as Banyan, received the Vanguard Award from the National Drama Association for innovative ground-breaking television. Tony Hall, who was 71, died of a heart attack 27 April, 2020.  
Photograph © Abigail Hadeed, Splice Studios. Source:  TT Film Festival, May 2020. Story by Bruce Paddington, Founder of Banyan Productions

Trinidad and Tobago is now listed at number one in an updated covid19 lockdown rollback checklist compiled by Oxford University researchers.
The report, the Oxford Covid19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), was created by the University of Oxford's Blavatnik School of Goverment (BSG).
The data is analysed by a team of researchers led by Dr Thomas Hale, associate professor of global public policy at BSG.
It is a working paper, which means it is a non-peer-reviewed article. These are used for early drafts to gather feedback before they are submitted to academic journals.
This country shares the lead with Croatia, Hong Kong and Iceland.
The list which ranks countries that meet World Health Organization's recommendations for relaxing physical distancing measures.
In a previous list issued on April 23, TT was ranked second to Vietnam.
TT and nearly 160 other countries were graded in four areas: cases controlled; test, trace and isolate; manage import cases; and community understanding.
This country has a score of one, the highest achievable, for control of cases, as well as community understanding, along with other high scores of 0.8 for testing and isolation, and 0.9 for community understanding. It gives the country a total score of 0.9.
Croatia, Hong Kong and Iceland were ranked joint first with the same score.
By comparison, the UK is languishing near to the bottom, only four places above Iran, which sits last. The UK's total score is 0.3, with the only respectable score being 0.9 in community understanding.
The first published list not did not identify the countries' individual scores.
Before ranking each country by scores, the document notes that while the publisher, Oxford Covid19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), and its data cannot fully say how ready countries are to leave lockdown, it provides for a rough comparison across nations.
"Even this 'high level' view reveals that few countries are close to meeting the WHO criteria for rolling back lock-down measures. At the time of writing, only a handful of countries are doing well at the four 'checklist' criteria OxCGRT is able to track," the report says.
Hale's report used WHO guidelines as its basis.
Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh, asked for his thoughts on TT's number-two position on Wednesday, said the population should not react with a false sense of security.
He added, however, that the Oxford report is "a very good report" and "paints us in an excellent light."
"This is testimony to what we have been saying all along," Deyalsingh said, "that our response to covid, led by the prime minister, was a robust one...What this speaks to is that the world is recognising that the decision not to flip a switch and open back the economy is the right way." Source: Newsday, May 1, 2020

The Health Minister and National Security Minister have been working together to get Cuban nurses into Trinidad and Tobago, to assist in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister of National Security, Stuart Young highlighted that it is anticipated that a plane will be coming from Cuba, in the very near future, to bring these nurses to our shores.
The Minister made it clear that these nurses would be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival. Source: Power 102FM, April 2020

 WITH almost half the US covid19 deaths in the state of New York, and almost 10,000 in the city, Marabella-born US-trained nurse Lisa-Maria John said she hopped on a plane to what is now referred to as “ground zero” because she was bound by duty.
Coming from a family of nurses, with three aunts and two cousins caring for the sick, the 32-year-old progressive-care nurse said she left the safety of Virginia, where the pandemic is not as widespread, took a 21-day contract, grabbed a one-hour flight, and the next day began caring for patients with the most severe cases of the virus. 
As of Saturday morning, New York State had 222,284 cases and 14,636 deaths, and New York City had 131,263 cases, with 8,893 deaths.​
“The outbreak is nowhere as bad as it is in New York,” John said. “It can’t be compared to anywhere else in the world right now except for maybe Italy.”​
No one knows the seriousness of the disease’s effect on the state as well as Ria Anderson, who works in another hospital in New York City.
Born and raised in Maloney, Anderson, 43, contracted covid19 on the job. She spent less than a week at home. Now she is back at work, caring for her patients, with the mindset that it will get better, and until that happens, she will do all she can.
Both women spoke with Sunday Newsday via WhatsApp calls and texts. ​
Anderson’s only regret is passing the virus to her four-year-old son Ethan.​ “Initially I was scared, not for myself but my son,” explained Anderson, a single mother. “Unfortunately he had mild symptoms and had to be isolated for 14 days. 
“I had a lot of guilt. But I knew we were both healthy and would overcome it. My family, on the other hand – that includes my cousins, aunts and brothers – were very concerned and scared that the outcome would not be favourable.
“Now that I feel good and back out to work they (gave) a sigh of relief.”​
Anderson developed symptoms on March 24, was tested two days later and on April 3 was confirmed positive. Her treatment was Tylenol and keeping herself hydrated.
By April 9 she was back to work, having been cleared to return.
PPE protection​ a must
With over eight years as an ICU-trained nurse, Anderson said she has had the burden of watching patients suffering the worst effects of the virus, and, with visits banned, patients dying without their loved ones around them. ​
John, whose contract ends on April 21, said she has worked 12-hour shifts for 13 days without a break.
Her first day off was on April 15. She spent most of it sleeping, and the rest replenishing her groceries and “taking in some fresh air and sunlight.”
She too fights the virus in the ICU, which is outside her specialty as a progressive care nurse.
But, she said, “This is not the first disease that nurses have faced. If you are afraid of a disease, then do not become a nurse. You are trained – use the training.
“I do not work if I do not have the personal protective equipment (PPE); it is in my contract. If I get sick, then I will have to tell my patients to go around and make room for me. So it is important that health care workers are protected.”​
While John has all the PPE she needs, Anderson said there were times when it was in short supply, but the job had to be done.
She recalled at one time reusing the same mask for an entire week.​
“I understand there’s limited supplies, but the changing of guidelines to accommodate insufficient materials is not the answer, and, most importantly, I believe is not safe.
“The suggestion at one time of using a bandanna instead of an N95 mask is beyond me.” ​
That suggestion is on the website of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as one of several “strategies or options to optimize supplies of facemasks in healthcare settings” for professionals, as a last resort when no facemasks are available.
​Mental strength dealing with covid19​
​Anderson said: “All the patients that I have been caring for have covid19. Unfortunately, a few of them passed away.
“This has been the most heartbreaking experience. No one is allowed to have visitors, due to hospitals being on lockdown, because of the exposure that guests can bring to the hospital. They are all alone, and I am one of the few people they see.”
Meanwhile, “As nurses, we are constantly going into the rooms of patients who are positive, exposing ourselves to the virus.”
But rather than being worried for herself, she said: “I still haven’t fully processed everything that has been going on in the world, but I am thankful to be there for those in time of dire need.​
“Since being tested, I’m so grateful for my life and being able to overcome this virus. I have never been so grateful for my health. Every night I fall asleep I thank God I’m healthy. Every morning I wake up I thank God for another day. I thank God for putting me in a position to help others.
“I wonder what type of scars this will leave on us. What type of bond that it will create?
“As much as I want to run, this is my role. This is what God put me here to do. In spite of the fear that this coronavirus brings, I do not hesitate to get up, get ready and help fight, by taking care of all patients.”​
John wakes up at 4 am every day to catch a chartered bus to work. ​
“Physically, the level of exhaustion I have – I don’t know how I keep going, even as a healthy person I don’t know what is driving me...
“(But) there are no words to describe how difficult it is to lose three to five patients in a day. I tell myself: ‘There are sick people out there. Get up and get to work.’”
She added, “You know, I hate being called a hero. This is just part of the job.”​
​Not everyone around them has been able to accept the risks they have chosen to face.
“My parents were upset when I told them I was going to New York,” John said.
Asked what she did to calm them down, she answered “You ever tried calming a Trini parent?”
Her family are more reconciled to her choice now, and daily phone calls after she returns to her apartment around 8 pm usually soothe their worries.​
Anderson said she was offered but is yet to access the counselling provided by her hospital.
Both women are studying for master’s degrees in nursing. Anderson hopes to graduate next year as a family nurse practitioner, and John is scheduled to graduate in December in nursing education.​
​​NY nurses’ advice to TT​
​Speaking from the epicentre of the covid19 pandemic, the two nurses offered this advice.
Anderson said, “My advice is to stay home, practise proper hygiene and safe distance to stop coronavirus. Simple.”​
John was not as succinct: “I know we as a people abhor being told what to do. We walk to the beat of our (own) drums.
“However, this isn’t the time for that.
“Some may ask, ‘Well, who is you? You just a nurse!’
“Well, I am the nurse who has seen the most patient deaths in her nine-year career. I am the nurse who watched people in their 30s fight for their lives. I am the nurse who listens to the cries of someone begging to not let them die. I am the nurse holding the iPad so a patient’s children can say their goodbyes over FaceTime.​
“I don’t want my experiences for your family.
“This is not the time to be selfish and ignore social-distancing measures because you ‘can’t fight the boredom of being home.’ The only way to curb the spread of covid19 is to social-distance and stay home!” Source: Newsday, April 22, 2020

Sixy years ago on the morning of April 22, 1960 thousands of people streamed into Woodford Square in the heart of Port of Spain to hear a speech by Eric Williams, Chief minister of Trinidad.It was the day that Williams proclaimed the independence of the British West Indies. An excerpt of his speech is as follows:
"From today, April 22, 1960, 11 am, we are a different people. We are not what we were on April 21. We are here today as West Indians—the new nation born out of the amalgam of disparate cultures and different racial stocks. Our demonstration today demonstrates national unity. … A demonstration such as this is not only a political leap forward. It is also a spiritual purification."

67 YEARS AGO, TODAY
The closure of railways across Trinidad was a long drawn out process which was first discussed in 1920 when the TGR, that had opened in 1876, suffered its first year of financial losses after 45 years of profitable operation. Financial instability was largely due to the introduction of privately operated omnibuses for public transportation between 1908 and 1920. After WW1, there were also many private road haulage companies using surplus war equipment which greatly impacted freight traffic.
Due to diminishing profitability on the railways, four separate economic enquiries were carried out by the Government in 1926, 1936, 1956 and 1963. The only improvement in the situation occurred when the railways proved “indispensable” during both world wars. It has often been said that railways in Trinidad were retained after 1936 due to the critical role it played during the second world war when it was saved by the Americans who used it to build and supply their base at Waller field.
Despite efforts to arrest the decline by successive administrations, by 1950 the railway was in serious trouble once again. But the roads still had some way to go before they could completely substitute the railways especially when it came to the transportation of bulk commodities like sugar and very heavy oilfield apparatus for drilling and refinery.
Nevertheless, the writing was on the wall and it seemed the “indispensability” of the Trinidad Government Railway was beginning to fade with each passing year. The critical role played by the railway during both World Wars was being quickly forgotten in the face of post war economic realities. In the face of mounting criticism, the Government acted.
On the 12 March 1953 came first closure announcements across the TGR. The Arima to Sangre Grande, San Fernando to Princes Town and San Fernando to Siparia lines were all to lose their passenger services. Substitution bus services were widely publicised in the lead up to closures.
Closures came as had been announced on 1 April 1953 and on this date the Arima to Sangre Grande line was completely closed to both passenger and good (some Orange Grove bound cane traffic continued for a few more years).
The Guardian reported on the last departure from Sangre Grande, which left the station at 9:15 pm on the evening of April 1st. “The last train gave three mournful blasts each lasting three to four minutes as a farewell”. Also, on the same day, 1 April, the San Fernando to Princes Town (Guaracara line) and the San Fernando to Siparia line both closed to passenger traffic. The Guaracara line lost its goods service on 8 June. These lines were closed despite much protest.
In a twist of fate, the Siparia line was to hold on to its goods services, presumably in order to service the now booming oil industry and the sugar cane scales between Usine Ste. Madeleine and Penal.
In the 1950s the road system in Trinidad was not yet suitable for the transportation of heavy refinery equipment and drilling oilfield apparatus and reliance for this was placed on rail as was the transportation of bulk cane to Factory.
During the course of its life the Siparia line brought many people to the district from all points of the railway network particularly during the yearly festival of La Divina Pastora when many extra trains, known as “Specials”, were put on in order to accommodate the high volume of traffic. This practice continued for several years following the withdrawal of passenger trains to Siparia in 1953 and there was a brief resumption of a passenger service 1964 when the authorities in Siparia petitioned the need to provide transportation for school children to and from San Fernando, this service only lasted a very short time.
The reality was that people in the 1960s stopped using the railway. The route taxi became very fashionable and people saw it as a status symbol. Many will argue with me over this; however, one only must ask the old TGR workers and the argument becomes clear. People were not using the service. Trains ran empty except for periods of “rush hour” or perhaps during Carnival time.
Within the final years, no service was more abused physically and verbally, than the railway. “Deficit-ridden,” “not economically viable”, “a drain on the economy.” “barren, bankrupt and archaic,” were some of the terms used by the public and press to describe the service.
Physical abuse was perpetrated by vandals, and by the thousands who travelled daily without paying fares because of the dated ticket examination system in operation. This contributed greatly to its demise.
Despite closures and measures designed to arrest the demise, losses over the final years continued; in 1964 the service lost $3.6m; in 1965 3.2m; in 1966 2.7m; in 1967 1.6m; and in 1968 (final year) $1.2m.
A Cabinet-appointed committee which examined the railway, with special reference to closure, dismissed the possibility of the service ever becoming viable.
In 1968 officials of the Public Transport Service Corporation, which operated the railway, reported on the unsafe condition of the rail tracks as the key reason why the service could not be retained. The cost of rehabilitating the service and making it safe was put at $590,000, money which "could be better utilised in providing a more efficient bus service".
Personally, I believe that had the railway managed five more years of operation after 1968 there may have been a return to the rails by the public as our road traffic situation in and out of Port of Spain began to deteriorate.
I'm sure the debate will continue for many more years to come.
Source:  Glen Beadon 1 April 2020  VM of T&T