A five-year-old boy is one of two persons who died from COVID-19 after being infected with the virus. This is the eleventh child to die from the virus in Guyana.
The Health Ministry informed on Tuesday that the child, who hailed from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), died on Monday. Along with him, a 49-year-old fully-vaccinated woman from Region Five also died on Tuesday. Now, the death toll has moved to 994.
There were 49 new cases in one day, according to the Ministry’s dashboard, with the total confirmed cases in the country moving to 37,874.
There are 18 patients in the designated Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 1139 in home isolation, 72 in institutional isolation and two in institutional quarantine. The data showed that 35,651 patients have recovered from the life-threatening virus while 390,796 tests were conducted.
An analysis showed 22 new cases in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), three in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), 19 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), and five in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
No increases were reported in Regions One (Barima-Waini), Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).
Guyana has 1391 active cases. Clusters were reported in Region Four with 671 active infections, 276 in Region Three and 207 in Region Six.
Meanwhile, 73 persons are in hospitals – 50 of which are at the Infectious Diseases Hospital on the East Coast of Demerara.
Speaking on hospitalised pregnant women, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony informed during the COVID-19 update that presently, none of them are severely affected.
“Once you test positive, we’ll keep you in. We’ll monitor you and then if you decompensate, meaning that you’re having trouble breathing, then we have all the necessary equipment there to assist you. Right now, we don’t have any such case but, in the past, we did have cases where some of the women had the most severe form of COVID.”
Since the emergence of the new Omicron variant and new threats which it brings, the Minister said they are looking at the possibility of sending samples to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) or the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) for genomic sequencing.
He pointed out, “We have developed a relationship with CARPHA, where we can send samples for genetic sequencing. We also have an arrangement with PAHO, where we can send samples for genetic sequencing. So, these are arrangements that we will be looking into to see whether or not we need to send these samples there.”
On November 26, the WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE).
This decision was based on the evidence presented to the TAG-VE that Omicron has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for instance, how easily it spreads or the severity of illness it causes.
If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or needs any additional information, they are asked to contact the COVID-19 Hotline 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy
All Guyanese are reminded to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 emergency measures which emphasise 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. (G12)
