25 new COVID-19 cases after 1045 persons tested

Guyana’s COVID-19 cases increased by 25 on Thursday after a total of 1045 swabs were sent for analysis.
Seven patients are seeking treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), as deaths remain at 189. There are 45 persons in institutional isolation, 468 on home isolation, and 14 in institutional quarantine.
The country has seen a total of 7629 recoveries from 8338 positive cases.
Meanwhile, Guyana has tested 56,902 persons thus far, with 4323 males and 4015 females turning up positive.

New cases
A breakdown shows that two new cases were detected in Region One (Barima-Waini), three in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and 20 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica).
Cases in the other regions remain the same, with 233 in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), 225 in Region Five (Demerara-Mahaica), 462 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), 758 in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), 245 in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), 413 in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and 641 in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Thursday said that Ministry have witnessed an overall decline in the active cases after there was a spike in the trend at the beginning of the year. However, in the community of Waramadong, the situation is yet to improve.
“We still have an issue in Waramadong, where we still have a number of cases in that community. But, as we know, we have a team there. We have a resident doctor who has been providing additional support. My anticipation is that, in a next couple of days, we should start seeing a decline in the cases that we have there,” he explained.
This week, it was informed that local authorities are heightening their monitoring of persons passing through Guyana’s airports amid reports of forged COVID-19 test results.
Dr Anthony disclosed, “We had reports of people forging their PCR to come to Guyana, and we have launched an investigation into that, and we have alerted airport authorities for those respective countries, telling them that this is something we have heard of and we would like them to be extra vigilant. We’ve also alerted the airlines that are bringing in passengers from those destinations. So, we have done some of that work to heighten vigilance in terms of persons coming in.”
As it is, persons entering Guyana are required to have a negative PCR test taken within seven days prior to their arrival. Persons with tests done within one to three days upon their arrival will not be subjected to any further health checks. However, those with tests that were completed within four to seven days prior to their arrival would be subjected to a PCR test at the airport here before being allowed to exit the building.
Private facilities have been set up at the airport to conduct these tests for persons both arriving into and leaving the country.
However, while he noted that there have been cases of people falsifying their COVID tests to entire Guyana, Dr Anthony said there has not been any such specific case for persons leaving the country.
Nevertheless, the Heath Minister on Wednesday cautioned that those found culpable of committing this act would be prosecuted by the Police. Further, he is urging persons to check which labs have been certified in Guyana to conduct these COVID tests. (G12)