– 116 new cases recorded in 24h; 2026 active cases
As Guyana continues to grapple with the new wave of the novel COVID-19, the Health Ministry on Sunday reported that four more persons who tested positive have died.
This now takes the total number of deaths from the pandemic in the country to 359.
These latest fatalities include a 73-year-old male from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and a 77-year-old female from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), who died on May 17 and 19, respectively. The other deaths were two more females, a 78-year-old from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and a 42-year-old from Region Five, both of whom died on May 21.
According to the Ministry, these patients were admitted with COVID-19 like symptoms but died while receiving care at medical institutions across the country. Samples were taken at the time of admission, which subsequently returned positive.
Only Saturday, four other COVID-19 deaths were reported. However, with these four more fatalities reported on Sunday, the COVID-19 death toll for May has gone up to 60 – putting this month on the verge of becoming the country’s deadliest since the outbreak of the virus here last year.
Last April was said to be deadliest month, with 66 deaths.
Meanwhile, new statistics provided by the Ministry showed that another 116 persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours in Guyana.
According to the Health Ministry’s updated COVID-19 dashboard on Sunday, the total number of confirmed cases in the country has now increased to 16,130.
However, a whopping 2026 of these are currently active cases including 19 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the remaining 2007 persons in isolation, that is, 96 in institutional isolation and the other 1911 in home isolation.
There are also four more persons in institutional quarantine.
Some 13,745 persons have since recovered from the life-threatening virus in Guyana to date – 35 more recoveries than the figure recorded the previous day.
Additionally, a total of 145,654 persons have been tested for the novel coronavirus in Guyana over the past year, of which 8029 males and 8101 females were found to be positive.
Of the 116 new COVID-19 cases detected on Sunday, one was from Region One (Barima-Waini); three cases from Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); 15 from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 62 cases from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); five from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 13 from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); one case each from Regions Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), nine from Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), and the other six cases from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
In order to protect citizens and move towards achieving herd immunity, the Guyana Government has been aggressively rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination campaign and pleading with persons to get immunised against the deadly virus.
Only Saturday, the Ministry hosted its drive-thru vaccination drive at the National Stadium in Providence, which attracted over 1000 persons, who turned up to get either their first or second dose.
To date, almost 180,000 persons have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Guyana, of which over 47,000 persons are now fully immunised. These numbers are expected to rise as the vaccination exercise continues to be rolled out across the country.
In the meantime, Health authorities are urging Guyanese to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No 17), which are in effect until May 31, 2021. This order emphasises, among other things, 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.
The order also imposes a 22:30h (10:30 pm) to 04:00h (4 am) national curfew, which the National COVID-19 Taskforce has been working to enforce by prosecuting persons who are in breach of the measures.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as of Sunday, some 166,346,635 confirmed cases were reported globally along with 3,449,117 deaths.
The WHO also reported on Sunday that in the Region of the Americas, that is, Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 65,979,469 while the death toll in the region has gone up to 1,615,101.
If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or needs any additional information, kindly contact the COVID-19 Hotline 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy.
