3 more COVID-19 deaths, 150 new cases

…36 persons in ICU

The Health Ministry has reported that three more persons who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have died. This takes the total number of deaths from the pandemic to 851. Two of the three persons were unvaccinated, while the vaccination status of the other person is unknown.
The fatalities include a 63-year-old man from Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and a 70-year-old woman of Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), who both passed away on October 12; and a 68-year-old woman of Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), who died on September 26.
This increases the death toll for September to 172 – the highest number of such deaths ever recorded in a single month. Moreover, within the last 24 hours, 150 new cases were detected from 521 COVID-19 tests. The total number of confirmed cases has climbed to 33,973.
A breakdown of the new cases follows: Region One – five cases; Region Two – 13 cases; Region Three – 29 cases; Region Four – 68 cases; Region Five – six cases; Region Six – seven cases; Region Seven – seven cases; Region Nine – seven cases; and Region 10 – eight cases.
A distribution of the 33,973 confirmed cases recorded since March 2020 follows: Region One – 1553; Region Two – 1319; Region Three – 4613; Region Four – 16,260; Region Five – 1191; Region Six – 2390; Region Seven – 1704; Region Eight – 538; Region Nine – 2430; and Region 10 – 1975.
There are 36 persons in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 116 persons in institutional isolation, 23 persons in institutional quarantine, and 3,535 persons in home isolation.
Importantly, 29,435 persons have recovered from the virus to date.
As at Wednesday, 369,877 persons, or 72.1 per cent of the adult population, have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 226,649 persons, or 44.2 per cent of the adult population, are fully vaccinated.
The Health Ministry has administered the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine to 25,998 children between the ages of 12 and 17; this represents 35.6 per cent of persons in that age group. Meanwhile, 15,653 adolescents, or 21.5 per cent of that population, are fully inoculated.
The Health Ministry is reminding all persons to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 Emergency Measures, which are in effect until October 31, 2021. This order emphasises the need for correct and consistent use of a face mask when leaving 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.
Anyone displaying symptoms associated with COVID-19, or needing additional information is kindly asked to contact the COVID-19 hotline on 231-1166, 226-7480, or 624-6674 immediately, or visit the MoH at www.health.gov.gy. (G1)