1 more COVID death recorded as new infections skyrocket

…curfew, other measures extended for another month

New COVID-19 infections have skyrocketed after the holiday weekend with only one fatality recorded so far in the new year, according to the Health Ministry.
The latest person who died after testing positive for the novel coronavirus is a 79-year-old female from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). She was unvaccinated at the time of death on Sunday.
The total number of COVID-19 deaths from the virus has now gone up to 1055.
Meanwhile, some 281 new COVID-19 cases were detected within a 24-hour period, the Ministry reported on Sunday. This followed another 206 new infections reported on Saturday.
The total number of confirmed COVID cases in Guyana is now 40,060 of which only 1343 are currently active cases. These comprise five patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 1338 persons in isolation – 41 in institutional isolation and the other 1297 in home isolation.
There are also four more persons in institutional quarantine.
To date, some 37,708 persons have recovered after being infected with the life-threatening virus.
Meanwhile, approximately 428,651 persons have been tested for the novel coronavirus in Guyana so far and of this, some 18,890 males and 21,170 females were found to be positive.
Of the 281 new cases reported on Sunday, one was from Region One (Barima-Waini), six from Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), 21 from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), a whopping 189 cases from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), 10 from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), 49 from East Berbice-Corentyne, one from Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), three from Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), and on from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice).
Only last week, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said they were monitoring the spike in new COVID-19 cases after the Christmas weekend. Prior to then, active cases had dropped below one thousand for the first time in months.
But with the Omicron variant spreading rapidly across the world, health authorities are on the lookout to ascertain whether it has reached Guyana.
Dr Anthony has explained that this new variant is highly transmissible and, therefore, urged persons not to let their guard down in the new year.
The Health Minister also encouraged persons to get vaccinated and for those eligible, to get their booster shots.
So far, over 411,000 persons or 80.1 per cent of adults have taken a first dose vaccine, while more than 295,000 or 57.6 per cent have been fully vaccinated with both doses.
Meanwhile, just over 29 per cent of children between the ages of 12 and 17 are completely immunised. The administration of booster shots has surpassed 11,800 doses.
But as more people continue to get vaccinated, authorities are urging the public to continue observing all COVID-19 preventative measures, particularly masking in public, social distancing, and frequent hand washing and sanitising.
Government has since extended the COVID-19 Emergency Measures and Guidelines for another month, until the end of January 2022. These include vaccination requirements to access any public building such as restaurants, places of worship, schools as well as Government buildings.
There is also a midnight to 04:00h curfew in place, while certain establishments are required to operate at reduced capacity in order to allow for social distancing protocols. Business entities such as restaurants and bars as well as markets are allowed to open until 23:00h.
There are also vaccination requirements in place for persons entering Guyana via air, land, and water.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), recent figures show that some 281,808,270 confirmed cases were reported globally along with 5,411,759 deaths.
WHO also reported that in the Region of the Americas, that is, Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 102,287,397 while the death toll in the Region has gone up to 2,404,354.
As it relates to vaccination against COVID-19, a total of 8,687,201,202 doses have been administered worldwide. (G8)