46 new COVID-19 cases detected; 8 in ICU

– more PCR tests for regions as Health Minister concerned about low detection rates

Guyana has recorded 46 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, thus taking the total number of cases to 4208.
The Health Ministry on Sunday stated that only 838 of these cases are currently active, that is, eight patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the other 830 persons in isolation – 73 in institutional isolation and the remaining 757 in home isolation.
There are also 35 persons in institutional quarantine.
Meanwhile, some 3242 persons have recovered from the life-threatening virus to date.
The COVID-19 death toll remains at 126. The latest fatalities were recorded on Saturday when a 48-year-old female from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and a 67-year-man from Region One (Barima-Waini) died while receiving care at medical facilities.
Over the past week, a total of seven persons have died from the pandemic in Guyana. The country’s COVID-19 death toll at the beginning of the week was 119.
A total of 19,944 persons have been tested for the novel coronavirus in Guyana.
A breakdown of the 46 new cases detected on Sunday showed that the Barima-Waini Region accounted for almost half of the cases.
There were 19 new cases in Region One, four in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), 11 in the Demerara-Mahaica Region, one case in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), two in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), six in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), and three cases in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
The figures for the other three regions remained the same, that is, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) with 80 cases, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) with 28 cases and Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) with 376 cases.
Meanwhile, the spike in novel coronavirus cases in Region One comes on the heels of a recent outbreak in the community of Kwebanna and raising cases in neighbouring Himacabra.
Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony in his last COVID-19 update had reported success in curbing the spread of the virus in Kwebanna, where experienced medical teams have been deployed as the community was placed on full lockdown.
Kwebanna has a population of about 900 residents and the teams have been able to reach 124 of the 184 households. Presently, there are 53 active cases and testing is continuous.
In relation to the neighbouring village, the Minister said “That’s an area that we’re also paying some attention to because we don’t want the number of active cases to get too high. So, the team will be deployed as well to that area so that we can put similar measures in place. We haven’t gotten to a point where we will be locking down the area.”
Since taking office, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has embarked on a massive testing drive to ensure that all positive cases, especially asymptomatic ones, are detected. This has resulted in a high number of cases being detected.
In fact, health authorities have expressed concerns over the fact that the current minimal figures in some regions might be inaccurate. This was highlighted by Minister Anthony during a visit to the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region on Saturday.
According to a report from the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Health Ministry has been noticing a trend in several regions where positive cases were showing up in minimal numbers. It has since been found that they are submitting a smaller percentage of samples for testing to the National Public Health Reference Laboratory in Georgetown due to a shortfall in testing, particularly in Regions Five and Six.
Minister Anthony said if figures are not accurate, then this endangers everyone.
“We need to know who is active. We don’t know because we are not testing broadly. We will be providing more PCR testing for wider testing. Ventilators are also being provided to support you in this fight against COVID-19,” he posited.
The Health Minister further noted that doctors and nurses are the Ministry’s eyes and ears in the fields; therefore, the Government would provide the necessary tools for them to deliver effective service.
In fact, Dr Anthony visited the Suddie Public Hospital and Oscar Joseph Hospital during his visit on Saturday to get a first-hand look at the measures in place to test for and treat COVID-19 cases in the region.
He also handed over two ventilators to the Region along with several Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing kits. Antigen testing kits have also been ordered for the Region.
The Minister along with Permanent Secretary of the Health Ministry, Malcolm Watkins, also met with the staff of both health institutions to discuss and address issues affecting them.
Dr Anthony was also accompanied by PAHO/WHO Representative to Guyana, Dr Luis Felipe Codina; Director General of the Ministry, Dr Vishwa Mahadeo; and Chief Medical Officer, Dr Narine Singh. Region Two Chair, Vilma Da Silva, and members of the Regional Democratic Council also attended the outreach.