2 more COVID-19 deaths, 81 new cases recorded

Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll has risen to 928 after two more persons who had tested positive for the deadly virus succumbed.
These latest fatalities are an 80-year-old female from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and an 83-year-old male from Region One (Barima-Waini), both of whom died on November 1.
According to the Health Ministry on Wednesday, the male had been fully vaccinated while the female had been unvaccinated.
Meanwhile, another 81 new COVID-19 infections have been detected within a 24-hour period from 1,172 tests conducted. This now takes the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 35,800. However, only 2,530 of these are currently active cases, including 18 patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the remaining 2512 persons in isolation. that is, 57 in institutional isolation and the other 2,455 in home isolation.
There are also seven other persons in institutional quarantine.
So far, some 32,342 persons have recovered from the life-threatening disease in Guyana – 124 recoveries more than the figures reported on the previous day.
Moreover, 357,994 persons have been tested for the novel coronavirus in the country to date, and of this amount, some 16,920 males and 18,880 females were found to be positive.

New cases
Of the 81 new cases reported on Wednesday, one was from the Barima-Waini community of Region One; four were from the Pomeroon-Supenaam community of Region Two; 15 were from the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara community of Region Three; a whopping 31 were from the Demerara-Mahaica community of Region Four; another five were from the Mahaica-Berbice community of Region Five; 12 were from the East Berbice-Corentyne community of Region Six; eight were from the Cuyuni-Mazaruni community of Region Seven; one was from the Potaro-Siparuni community of Region Eight; and the remaining four cases were from the Upper Demerara-Berbice community of Region 10.
No new case was recorded in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) on Wednesday.
The Guyana Government launched its COVID-19 vaccination exercise back in February, and continues to roll it out across the various regions in order to achieve herd immunity and reduce the number of COVID-19 infections.
To date, over 383,000 persons, or 74.7 per cent of the adult population, have received their first dose of the vaccine. More than 245,900 persons who are 18 years and older have received their first dose of the vaccine, and approximately 47.9 per cent or this demographic are fully immunised. Moreover, some 27,498 children between the ages of 12 and 17 have received their first dose of the vaccine, and 25.2 per cent of this demographic have been fully vaccinated.

Increasing hospitalisation capacity
However, even as the COVID-19 vaccination drive is ongoing, there continues to be a high number of new infections recorded daily, with the hospitalisation figures also going up. To this end, Government is working to develop the country’s capacity to cater for increased hospitalisations and isolation of COVID-19 patients in each region across the country.
During his COVID-19 update on Wednesday, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony revealed that each of the regional hospitals is equipped to properly facilitate care of COVID patients.
The Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown remains the central facility to house persons who require hospitalisation, and has an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with a capacity to house 59 persons.
“In Region One, we have a section of the Mabaruma Hospital that can accommodate COVID patients. We also have at Port Kaituma, a section of that hospital that is dedicated to COVID-19 patients. That’s where, over the last several months, we have been isolating COVID-19 patients. We also have sections of the Kumaka Hospital in Region One, where we can do that type of isolation as well,” he disclosed.
Government has also refurbished the Suddie Regional Hospital in Region Two, adding ventilators and oxygen supplies. “We have extended the COVID Isolation Centre for West Demerara Regional Hospital, because, as you see currently, we have a number of cases in Region Three and we want to make sure we have the right capacity to take care of those patients,” Minister Anthony said.
The West Demerara Regional Hospital can now accommodate 50 COVID patients, and with its proximity to Region Four, critical patients are easily transported to the Infectious Diseases Hospital.
In Region Five, works are ongoing at the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital to create an ICU space, while at the Experiment Health Centre, one of the buildings has been repurposed to cater solely to COVID patients.
Similarly, at the Linden Hospital Complex and the Mahdia and Bartica Hospitals, capacity has been built to cater for COVID patients.
Only recently, the Government commissioned a six-bed ICU at the Lethem Hospital.
With the infrastructure being put in place, Minister Anthony is also championing the Government’s vaccination campaign. He noted that the spread of COVID has decreased in workplaces, as more staff are being vaccinated.
“If the workplace is adhering to the COVID-19 measures, which means that people would have to keep social distance, sanitise their hands, wear their masks, then you will have a reduction in cases as I aforesaid, if they are fully vaccinated. So, if people observe these requirements, then the cases will be far less,” he said.
Nevertheless, persons are encouraged to get immunized, since the COVID-19 vaccine provides a layer of protection against severe symptoms of COVID-19.
As more people continue to get vaccinated, authorities are urging the public to continue observing all COVID-19 preventative measures, which include full vaccination requirements to access any public building such as restaurants, places of worship, schools as well as Government buildings. (G8)