There is growing concern in the village of Birchgrove in St. Andrew following the death on Sunday of Grenada’s first Covid-19 victim.
A resident of the village told THE NEW TODAY that there was both direct and indirect contact between the family of the deceased and many of the residents in the area especially at church.
He said that an individual from a well-known family in Birchgrove was looking after the grand-daughter of the deceased and that person was a regular churchgoer at the Roman Catholic Church in the village.
“They came to church – I myself went to church and they were there,” he remarked.
“Everybody was intermingling,” he added.
Asked if the person who was exposed to the granddaughter of the deceased sat close to him at church, he said, “No, not near to me but you know…”
Grenada’s first Covid-19 fatality returned to the island on December 16 along with his wife from the United States.
After spending time in quarantine, he was medically cleared through a PCR test to be put into the community.
However, a day later he started to feel unwell and visited the Princess Alice hospital at Mirabeau where he was treated apparently not for Covid-19 symptoms and sent back home.
A private doctor visited him at home and diagnosed that he was suffering from pneumonia and was sent back to the hospital.
A Rapid test was done on him and it indicated that he was Covid-19 positive.
According to the resident, the family of the Covid-19 victim would have been in contact with several persons since coming back into the country from a visit to the United States.
“People visited them. The family was also in contact with so much people through the child,” he said.
The elderly man who died from Covid-19 health related issues was living permanently in Grenada but visited the U.S from time to time.
The resident said that the retired CWC worker was living in the U.S for many years but returned to live permanently in Grenada after he got permanent status.
The Ministry of Health is believed to have contacted several persons in the area who might have been exposed to the family.
The resident said that although people in the village knew that the man had certain health conditions, he was considered to be healthy and often looked well.
“He was always healthy, liming around and what have you. He used to live a normal life – he used to go in his garden,” he told THE NEW TODAY.
“If you passing you see him in his yard planting his flowers and what have you. He was very quiet but especially the wife,” he said.
The 72-year old victim was cremated within 24-hours of his death.