COVID-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, announced that Trinidad and Tobago had decided to implement restrictions on persons traveling from China.

[9][10][11][12] Travellers whose flights originate from Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Iran, Germany, Spain, and France are also to be restricted.

[12] On 16 March, Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced that the country will close its borders to everyone except Trinidad and Tobago nationals and health workers for the next 14 days.

[46] In June 2021, the US embassy to Trinidad and Tobago was widely mocked after it announced a donation of 80 vials of vaccines (totaling 400 doses) to a country with a population of 1.4 million.

[47] Prime Minister Rowley announced mandatory vaccination for government employees in December 2021, though allowing medical exemptions.

On April 16, 2020, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the former Prime Minister and current Opposition Leader, demanded that the government "come clean" about their testing capacity as well as the "true state of the coronavirus spread in Trinidad and Tobago.