Confirmed COVID-19 Patient Passes Away

JOINT PRESS RELEASE FROM TCI HOSPITAL AND TCI GOVERNMENT

(Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – Sunday, 5 April, 2020): The Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital and Ministry of Health are saddened to advise that a confirmed COVID-19 patient who was under clinical management and isolation at Cheshire Hall Medical Centre has passed away.

The middle-aged male resident was admitted to the facility on March 21, 2020 in critical condition and had been receiving aggressive respiratory care. He succumbed to his illness shortly before midnight on Saturday, April 04, 2020.

He was the second person in the Turks and Caicos Islands diagnosed with COVID-19 and is now the country’s first confirmed COVID-19 related death. Prior to hospital admission, he had travelled to the United States and later developed fever and respiratory symptoms. Due to patient confidentiality no further details can be released. 

The family of the deceased has been formally notified. TCI Hospital and the Ministry of Health wishes to extend our deepest condolences to the grieving family on the unfortunate loss of their loved one.

Members of the general public are urged to adhere to the current national curfew and COVID-19 related legislation. Persons should also practice proper hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and social distancing. There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19 and the nation’s best defense to prevent and suppress the spread of the infection at the moment is collective action and compliance with the advice which has been shared by the Ministry of Health.