THE number of people being confirmed for Influenza A/H1N1 in Trinidad and Tobago is growing at an alarming rate and many people are doubting the Government’s ability to successfully deal with it if there is an outbreak.

The Ministry of Health in a media release yesterday stated that 32 people tested positive for Influenza A/H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as swine flu, in this country. A figure that moved up seven places in less than two days.

Nevertheless, the Ministry is insisting that its surveillance system is working the way it should and they are treating with every case in a timely fashion as soon as they are made aware of it.

In fact, they said that 23 people who were diagnosed with suffering from the virus have already resumed regular activities, while nine of them were still being supervised.

In response to a number of media requests in regards to the H1N1 situation in Tobago, however, the Ministry said that a high-powered team went over on the weekend, as a continuation of its collaboration between the two islands.

The team, all of whom have returned, included the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Senator Wesley George, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Anton Cumberbatch, the Adviser Public Health, Communications and Health Promotion, Dr Rohit Doon, the Head of Medical Programmes, Dr Kumar Sundaraneedi, and the Epidemiologist in the National Surveillance Unit, Dr Avery Hinds.

’The decision to do so stemmed from the need to ensure that isolation processes, surveillance methods and other medical interventions related to H1N1 were strengthened and in sync with the activities undertaken in Trinidad. The Ministry would like to report that the majority of confirmed H1N1 cases in Tobago are directly linked and that the surveillance system is working well and contributing to the rapid identification of cases,’ the statement said.