5 new COVID-19 infections take active cases to 171

The Health Ministry reported on Sunday that five more persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus from 211 tests conducted within a 24-hour period.
Consequently, some 71,191 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Guyana to date. However, only 171 of these are currently active cases, that is, 158 persons in home isolation and the remaining eight persons in institutional isolation.
There are no patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nor anyone in institutional quarantine, according to the Ministry’s updated dashboard.
Moreover, Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 1279, while some 69,746 persons in the country have recovered from the life-threatening virus to date.
Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Guyana over two years ago, a total 691,077 tests have been conducted countrywide and of this, some 32,631 males and 38,560 females were found to be positive.
Of the five new cases recorded on Sunday, four were from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and the other two cases from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
There were no new cases recorded in the other eight regions across the country within the reporting 24-hour period.
Back in March, the Guyana Government removed most restrictions as the country recovers from the pandemic and returns to normalcy.
Nevertheless, health authorities continue to urge persons to get vaccinated and for those qualified to get their booster shots as an added layer of protection against the virus.
The latest vaccination numbers show that so far, more than 446,200 or 87 per cent of adults have taken a first dose, while over 346,100 or 67.5 per cent received a second dose.
For adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17, just over 35,600 or 48.9 per cent have received a first dose. Second doses for this age cohort stand in excess of 26,100 or 35.9 per cent.
Vaccines are also being administered to children within five to 11 years, and so far, over 8000 of them or 7.9 per cent have taken a first dose, while more than 3600 or 6 per cent returned for their second jab.
Meanwhile, in excess of 73,000 persons have returned for their first booster dose.
According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recent figures, some 603,711,760 confirmed cases were reported globally along with 6,484,136 deaths.
In the Region of the Americas, that is, Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 176,342,137 while the death toll in the Region has gone up to 2,821,706.
As it relates to vaccination against COVID-19, the WHO also reported that a total of 12,540,061,501 doses have been administered worldwide. (G8)