SOURCE: CMC – An Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) has been identified as the latest person here to succumb to COVID-19.
ASP Byron Clyne, who was attached to the Central Division of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF), died at the General Hospital on Wednesday, after suffering a stroke while recovering from the virus.
His death was confirmed as COVID-19-related by the community relations department of the RGPF.
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell, who is also the Minister for National Security, recently disclosed that more than 160 officers were infected with COVID-19, which has resulted in some officers having to work between 15 to 16 hours per day.
“There are a number of policemen – I think is over 160-odd policemen – who are infected and many of them have to self-quarantine, and it is affecting them and their families and it’s affecting the productive level of the Force,” he had said.
It’s understood that the infected RGPF personnel include both civilian staff and police officers assigned to various divisions, including its headquarters.
Grenada began recording an upsurge of COVID-19 in mid-August, due to mass gatherings, some of which were not authorized by the authorities.
Local active cases moved from 5 on August 17, to 1,791 on September 10. Health authorities have declared community spread, with the Delta variant, which was detected in early August, as the main strain of the virus.
There have also been almost 40 deaths recently, with almost one-third of them occurring at elderly homes. The youngest person to die was an 18-year-old student of the T. A. Marryshow Community College, while the eldest was a 97-year-old resident of a senior citizens’ home.
Acting Director of Medical Services Dr. Tyhiesia Donald said on Tuesday that many people are arriving at the General Hospital in the advanced stage of COVID-19 and are dying within 24 to 48 hours of admission.
According to the daily Ministry of Health COVID-19 dashboard, as of September 14, there were 67 hospitalized with the virus.
