2 more COVID-19 deaths, 137 new cases recorded

Guyana has recorded two more COVID-19 related deaths on Wednesday, taking the country’s death toll to 293.
The latest fatalities were two men, aged 73 and 64 from Regions Four ( Demerara-Mahaica) and Five (Mahaica-Berbice) respectively.
On Wednesday also, the country recorded 137 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total positives recorded to date to 12,963. Of this number, 11,070 persons have recovered. To date, 6543 males and 6440 females have contracted the virus.
There are 13 persons in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 82 in institutional isolation, 1505 in home isolation, and 16 in institutional quarantine.
Of the new cases, three were detected in Region One (Barima-Waini); 12 in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); 25 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 66 in Region Four; two in Region Five; 18 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); four in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), and seven in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
The other regions did not have an increase in the number of cases.

Vaccines
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said there has been an increase in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the country. As of Tuesday, more than 128,000 persons received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines. Some 2900 persons have been fully vaccinated.
The Minister said health authorities were aiming to vaccinate approximately 500,000 adult Guyanese.
“We are making progress, because this represents quarter of our adult population, or a little bit more… We do an average about 5000 to 6000 per day… some days are better than the others. We have noticed that on weekends we don’t get as much turnout as expected; nevertheless, we continue to work and to keep centres open…,” he said.
The Health Minister further stated that health authorities were continuing to monitor communities where there was a surge in COVID-19 cases. He said there were several areas on the East Bank and East Coast of Demerara that remained high on the radar.
During the update on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Dr Anthony listed several villages which are currently hotspots.
Among them are Diamond and Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara, Mon Repos and Lusignan on the East Coast of Demerara, and Kitty and Lodge in Georgetown. Region Three has also seen an increase in the number of cases, particularly at Tuschen.
“For Region Four, these are the main areas or hotspots, but in every village across Region Four, we can find one or two cases… in Region Three, almost every village we have cases. For these two Regions, we have seen these hotspots emerging and we are closely monitoring,” the Minister explained. (G9)