COVID-19 and Quarantine

Marvin Manzanero

Director of Health Services Marvin Manzanero also discussed the retesting of COVID-19 positive patients. Doctor Manzanero spoke of one case where one man tested positive at day forty-nine. Here’s how he explains the health officials are moving forward with testing and quarantine.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services

“The determination we made as a team yesterday at headquarters is that we are going to swab you at day fourteen and if you are negative, we will swab you again at day twenty-one. If you are still positive we more than likely will be giving you a clearance note from the Ministry of Health based on science that you are no longer an infectious person and you can reincorporate to your routine activities, of course taking all the precautions. Because the science suggests that after fourteen days, whatever you are picking up in the nostrils may be viral particles that are not necessarily infectious so that people are able to go back to do their routine activities. I know some people want to see it in writing but I am telling you that after day twenty-one and I am saying this because we have gentleman that I think is now at day forty-nine down in Dangriga and he has gotten five or six swabs and they are still positive.  And he has not been allowed to move and the science would not indicate that there is a reason for keeping somebody for such an extended period in a quarantine area because you are no longer infectious, particularly if he is not symptomatic. So, the cut of day for us as we move long will be day twenty-one.”