2 more succumb to COVID, 30 new cases detected

– MoH monitoring XBB.1.5 strain closely – Dr Anthony

The Health Ministry on Friday reported that two more persons who tested positive for COVID-19 have succumbed, thus taking the death toll to 1293.
Two men, a 70-year-old from Region Three and a 79-year-old from Region Two, died on January 10 and 12, respectively.
In addition, 30 new cases were detected in the past 24 hours. This now takes the confirmed cases to 72,638. To date, 33,267 males and 39,371 females have contracted the virus. There are 10 persons in institutional isolation, 336 in home isolation, and zero in institutional quarantine.
The total number of recoveries to date is 70,996.
Presently, 349 cases are under surveillance but it is still considered an underestimate of the actual case count. It follows a breakdown of 14 cases in Region One; 37 in Region Two; 32 in Region Three; 151 in Region Four; four in Region Five; 16 in Region Six; 55 in Region Seven, one in Region Eight; eight in Region Nine and 33 in Region 10.
However, only 13 are hospitalised. Eight persons are at the Infectious Diseases Hospital with three in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“COVID, right now, a lot of people would present as if they have the flu so a lot of the symptoms would mimic flu. I think there are people who would have symptoms of the flu or fever and think it is the flu. What we want to advise people to do, even if you have flu-like symptoms, is to take the COVID test,” Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony advised.
Meanwhile, he added that authorities are keeping a close watch on the XBB.1.5 subvariant of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) – which has been sweeping across several countries.
From samples sent for genomic sequencing, the results determined the subvariants in circulation. But these are no longer dominant in places like the United States.
Now, the focus for local authorities has shifted to the XBB.1.5 strain, which has manifested in increased hospitalisation and fatalities in some countries.
The Health Minister shared during Friday’s COVID-19 update that stringent monitoring is taking place to prepare facilities and resources to handle higher hospitalisation rates and outcomes, should it be detected here.
The Omicron XBB.1.5 variant is a sub-lineage of XBB, which is a recombinant of two BA.2 sub-lineages. From October 2022 to January 2023, 5,288 sequences of the Omicron XBB.1.5 variant have been reported from 38 countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. It added that this new subvariant might contribute to a higher case incidence.
“Right now, I think most people are concerned about the XBB.1.5. As of last week, WHO said that variant is in 29 countries. It’s something we’re monitoring because the presentation tends to be a little different. In combination with RSV and influenza, we’re seeing a lot more hospitalisation in some countries…If we’re seeing more people being hospitalised, we would want to make sure that we have our facilities to cater for such hospitalisation,” the Minister shared.
Symptoms of the coronavirus include fever, cough, tiredness, diarrhoea, pains, sore throat, and loss of taste or smell. The more serious symptoms are difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain, and loss of speech or movement.
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 www.health.gov.gy.