PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Trinidad and Tobago health authorities today confirmed that the country had recorded its youngest person to die from the coronavirus to date – a woman who was under 25 and had  prevailing medical conditions.

“Our last death which was reported between the last media conference and this morning occurred in a person under the 25-year age group. While this was an exceptional circumstance and the person had a pre-existing medical condition, this is a warning sign to our population that COVID-19 strikes all persons,” Dr Maryam Richards, Principal Medical Officer – Institution, told the Ministry of Health virtual media conference.

Media reports said that the woman was diabetic and died within the past 48 hours.

Dr Richards did not disclose further details about the person in keeping with the practice of patient confidentiality.

“I will start by saying that we have to consider patient confidentiality practices. This has been the youngest death from COVID-19, while I am unable to give you the accurate age of the person due to patient confidentiality, I would like to remind the public that no one is immune from the morbidity or illness, death or mortality from COVID-19.

“In closing, we would like to express sincere condolences to the patient’s family,” Dr Richards said.

The Ministry of Heath said that 5,568 individuals have tested positive for the virus, of which 1, 276 are active. It said there were 33 additional positive cases and that the number of deaths stands at 106.

The number of people in State quarantine is 113, while 1,182 are in home isolation.