Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves was visibly absent from yesterday’s sitting of Parliament, having called in sick with “a terrible flu”. 

Gonsalves called in on StarFM’s Morning Scoop programme to reveal the reason for his absence in the House of Assembly, pointing out that he had tested negative for COVID-19 infection both on rapid and PCR testing. 

“There’s nothing seriously untoward. I got a terrible cold, a terrible flu. I heard it’s going around. I mean I escaped COVID and then end up with the flu and it really mash me up,” he said. 

The prime minister also said that he knew it was not COVID “because I didn’t have any of those symptoms, but on Saturday I took a rapid test and it was negative and yesterday evening, I took a PCR…and that was negative as well”. 

Gonsalves noted that he had not been going out for the past couple of days because of his illness and he has been taking all the prescribed medications to get better. 

This week’s sitting of Parliament was held just a few days before the Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) 21st anniversary of forming government. 

The prime minister, who is also the leader of the ULP, expressed hope that he will be able to get over his illness in the next few days.