4 more COVID-19 deaths, 111 new cases recorded

Four deaths and 111 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday contributed to an upwards trend of Guyana’s curve.
New deaths have taken the total fatalities to 355, and May’s death toll to 56. The country’s deadliest month was last April with 66 deaths.
The new deaths are two males: an 80-year-old from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and a 35-year-old from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), who died on Thursday. The others are an 83-year-old male and a 59-year-old, both from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), who died later on Friday.
Previously on Friday, a 52-year-old female from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and 58-year-old male from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) were the latest people to succumb to the virus.

New cases
Within 24 hours, 111 new cases were recorded, taking the total positives recorded to date to 16,041. In one week, there was an increase of 770 cases.
There are 1949 active cases: 19 patients in the Intensive Care Unit, 117 in institutional isolation and 1813 in home isolation. Another six persons are under institutional quarantine. A total of 13,710 persons have recovered while 143,825 were tested.
A breakdown showed the detection of one new case in Region One (Barima-Waini), one in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), 13 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), 62 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), four in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), nine in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), four in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), one in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and 16 in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

Myths
In the latest COVID-19 update, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony said the circulation of myths in communities is causing people not to get inoculated. It was highlighted that the Ministry is constantly seeking to dispel these untruths, since people are putting their lives at risk.
“There’s lots of myths circulating pertaining to safety and efficacy of vaccines and then some very weird myths that has nothing to do with the vaccine. So, trying to dispel that, trying to get people to understand that these vaccines are safe, it’s an ongoing process. We have to keep educating and hopefully we’ll get people changing their attitudes,” Dr Anthony detailed.
The source of information, he identified, is the biggest challenge for officials. In most instances, people fail to validate the information and spread it to others.
“A lot of time, I don’t think people are analysing proper medical and scientific information. They’re going by hearsay, what somebody would have told them and a lot of time, the sources of authority that they’ve been using is people who really don’t have proper medical or scientific information.”
Regional statistics show a 39.2 per cent immunisation in Region One, 36.4 per cent in Region Two, 37.5 per cent in Region Three, 36.6 per cent in Region Four, 38.5 per cent in Region Five, 43.6 per cent in Region Six, 37.1 per cent in Region Seven, 23.9 per cent in Region Eight, 34.9 per cent in Region Nine and 11 per cent in Region 10.
If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or needs any additional information, contact the COVID-19 Hotline 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy. (G12)