2 unvaccinated men new COVID-19 deaths, 17 in ICU

Two unvaccinated men from Region Four are the latest persons to die from COVID-19 in Guyana, the Health Ministry announced on Thursday.
The men, aged 81 and 66, died on January 26 and January 27, respectively. This takes the total number of deaths from the pandemic to 1156.
In the updated dashboard, 408 new cases took the total confirmed cases in the country to 58,604 – 27,111 males and 31,493 females.
With 17 patients in the designated Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 11,818 remain in home isolation, 173 in institutional isolation and 11 in institutional quarantine. The data shows that 45,440 patients have recovered from the life-threatening virus while 500,670 tests have been conducted.
A breakdown showed three new infections for Region One (Barima-Waini), 20 for Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), 40 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), 195 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), 23 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), 29 in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), and two in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
There were no increases in Regions Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).
With the passage of Budget 2022 this week and a significant sum of $73.2 billion set aside for the health sector, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony shared in Thursday’s COVID-19 update that Government will work to procure vaccines for the five to 11 age category.
“Part of the spending would be on vaccination. This year, we’re expecting that we would have access to vaccines between five to 11. Our understanding is the Pfizer, in the first quarter of this year, would also be submitting their information to the US FDA for a three-dose regiment for children five to six months. If those vaccines become available this year, obviously we would like to have access to those vaccines. We have set aside some resources to do that,” he underscored.
He added that other outreaches, such as the drive-thru exercise, will continue to encourage higher vaccine uptake. Expansion of cold chain storage, procurement of medications for coronavirus patients, adequate oxygen and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplies, are also the agenda.
The Minister added, “Testing is very important and so some of these monies would go to buy the relevant kits to do PCR testing and to make sure that we have enough antigen testing.”
For the month of January, the Ministry would have completed 78,000 tests. This capacity is significantly more than that of 2020 when just about 38,000 was processed for the whole year.
“In one month alone, we have exceeded that, almost doubling it and the month is not over as yet. You can understand the reasons why we need to buy more tests. The President has spoken about self-testing so that is something we will be looking at this year,” he pointed out.
All Guyanese are reminded to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 Emergency Measures, which are in effect until January 31, 2022. This order emphasises the need for everyone, 12 years and older to get vaccinated against COVID-19; 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 to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
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 (G12)