By Lara Pickford-Gordon Saturday, January 26 2008

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In-patients: Chinese workers rest at the St Clair Medical Centre where they were treated for dengue yesterday. They were subsequently discharged. ...

Eleven Chinese workers were still warded at St Clair Medical Centre, St Clair, yesterday morning after being hospitalised a few days ago for treatment of dengue fever.

Samples of their blood were sent for testing at the laboratory of the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), Federation Park, to determine the type of dengue fever the workers contracted. Dengue is a viral illness spread by the bite of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

At the private hospital yesterday, the workers were separated in three rooms. In one room the workers were awake and alert. Three of them were on beds and two were walking around.

In the room across the corridor three other workers were recuperating and under covers.

In the third room located at the end of the corridor, two workers were also in bed but the occupants of the other beds were not in the room at the time.

The alert workers refused to comment on anything and it was uncertain if they spoke English.

Yesterday, the Chinese Embassy in a release expressed concern about the reports that its nationals had contracted dengue.

“Our Embassy of the People’s Republic of China has noticed the news about the Chinese workers falling ill. The Ambassador Huang Xing is concerned about this event and cares about the health conditions of the Chinese workers who left their homeland and joined the national construction of Trinidad and Tobago. The Embassy is closely following up the situation,”

On Thursday, managing director of the SCG Interna-tional Trinidad Ltd, which employs the workers on the Performing Arts Academy construction site at Keate Street, Port-of-Spain, said six of them were hospitalised, after 12 had fallen ill. The Health Ministry had said 11 were warded. Health Minister Jerry Narace told Parliament yesterday afternoon that the patients were discharged.

Spraying was done by the Port-of-Spain Corporation Public Health Department yesterday morning but the fumes from the chemicals caused students of the Tranquillity Government Primary School, at the NUGFW compound on upper Henry Street, to fall ill and classes were dismissed by mid-morning. The school was not alerted of the spraying.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Rohit Doon called a meeting at 2 pm at the Health Ministry on Park Street, for regional health authorities and regional corporations to coordinate spraying programmes for mosquitoes.

Yesterday, Zhang said no more workers have been ill and health officials took blood samples from the workers hospitalised at St Clair for tests and SGC was “waiting on a report.”

He said workers at Keate Street have been cleaning and spraying since the dengue problem started two weeks ago. When asked about the vacant lot with overgrown weeds and construction materials, Zhang said, “We send guys to cut the grass.” A stagnant drain which was open on Thursday at the Keate Street compound where 100 Chinese workers live was covered yesterday.

Dr Eldonna Boisson, manager of the Epidemiology Division of CAREC, confirmed the ministry sent samples yesterday for further testing.

She said rapid tests had determined dengue but further tests would determine if the dengue fever contracted by the Chinese was Type I, II, III, or IV.

Chairman of the Urban Development Corporation Calder Hart yesterday said he did not think the workers were being exploited.

“I think anytime you have these labour camps, you have to ensure that standards are being maintained. It’s important that the occupational health and safety team at UDeCOTT visit the site and monitor what’s happening.”