Two more deaths from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been recorded locally, the Health Ministry reported on Monday.
This takes the country’s death toll from the virus to 613. Latest fatalities are two men from Regions One and Four – both of whom are 47 years old. They died on August 29 while seeking medical care.
In one day, 80 out of the 468 people that were swabbed tested positive, leading to confirmed cases rising to 25,403.
There are 31 patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 106 in institutional isolation, 1740 in home isolation and nine in institutional quarantine. Since the pandemic, 265,731 individuals were tested – of which 12,296 males and 13,107 females contracted the virus.
Meanwhile, a regional breakdown of new cases showed two for Region One (Barima-Waini), six in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), 15 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), 38 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), one in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), five in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and 13 in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).
Cases in Regions Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) did not increase.
The Health Ministry’s vaccine drive-through for the adolescent population on Sunday saw some 2000 persons being vaccinated. Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony shared on Monday that the response at their MovieTowne location was overwhelming.
“We saw a lot of people coming out, not just with vehicles but people came out and turned part of the drive-through into a walk-through. We literally have hundreds of people who showed up that way. We have about 2000 persons or so who got vaccinated. While the numbers were predominantly for children who came to get vaccinated with their parents, some of the parents also took the opportunity of getting their shots as well,” he expressed during the COVID update.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are administered within 21 days. If continued, it was shared that children 12 years and above could be vaccinated within a short timeframe, allowing for a safe reopening of schools. But in offering more options and mediums to get vaccinated, the Ministry is converting their mobile units to conduct vaccination at schools.
“We really hope that we can get the cooperation from parents and if the trend continues as we have seen at MovieTowne, I think we will very soon be able to vaccinate our entire school population. These children would probably be able to return to school in a very safe environment…We’re converting those mobile teams now to do vaccination for the school children. We have a schedule which we have worked out with the Ministry of Education, where we’ll be going to the different schools and hopefully we’ll get the entire school population coming out and so that we can vaccinate that school and move on,” the Minister noted during the briefing.
If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or needs any additional information, they are asked to contact the COVID-19 Hotline 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit us at www.health.gov.gy
All Guyanese are reminded to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 emergency measures which emphasise the need for correct and consistent use of a face mask when leaving your home; the importance of maintaining the six feet physical distance from others; and the need for good hand hygiene.