Details on the 28 year old man from Penal were not available at the time of publishing, however it has been confirmed that several other patients, among them the 13 year old nephew of one of the victims who died, were being treated in various wards of the hospital on suspicion of having contracted the virus. 

The three confirmed victims from south Trinidad, were of East Indian descent, were male and were between the ages of 28 and 42. Doctors said they did not think there was any common thread to explain why only East Indians had succumbed to disease.

Meanwhile, the first victim from North Trinidad died yesterday. Advertising agency executive Astra Da Costa died yesterday of complications related to the A H1N1 or swine flu virus. Da Costa, 62, was the executive chairman of Port of Spain company Ample Advertising and was the chairman of the Queen's Hall board of directors.

Da Costa complained of feeling unwell the day after she returned from a trip to St. Lucia, and was admitted to the Westshore Medical Hospital at Cocorite on September 27. Test results from Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) on Wednesday night confirmed she had the virus. Da Costa’s condition worsened and yesterday she was transferred to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where she suffered cardiac arrest around 5 p.m., her sister Adonna said.She died one hour later.

Attempts to get confirmation from the Ministry of Health of the number of swine flu deaths as of yesterday proved difficult, as officials were reportedly in a closed meeting up to late last night. Meanwhile, in a press release yesterday, the Medical Practitioners Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MPATT) said it is plain to see the health system is not equipped to deal with the second wave of swine flu.

“For nearly a decade, MPATT has been repeatedly pointing out that our public healthcare infrastructure has been deteriorating and continues to do so more rapidly now. Our public institutions do not have the capacity to manage the basic demands required of our population, and has been struggling to cope with the demand of only the urgent and emergency cases,” the statement said.