…active cases surpass 1700, with 143 new positives
Another two lives were on Wednesday lost to the coronavirus pandemic, taking the monthly death toll up to a whopping 62.
The Health Ministry on Thursday announced the latest fatalities as two females, a 63-year-old and a 59-year-old from Region Three (Essequibo Islands–West Demerara). They both died while receiving care at a medical facility.
In total, 295 individuals have died since the virus was detected locally.
Guyana’s active coronavirus cases are now at 1701, after 143 new positives were detected within the course of one day. Thursday’s dashboard saw the overall positives rising to 13,106 – 6560 males and 6456 females.
Some 16 patients are seeking treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), while 88 are in institutional isolation, 1597 are on home isolation, and eight are in institutional quarantine.
The country has seen 11,110 recoveries – 40 of which were reported in 24 hours. Meanwhile, 120,028 individuals have thus far been tested.
Of the new positives, three are from Region One (Barima-Waini), one is from Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), 27 are from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), 80 are from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), five are from Region Five (Demerara-Mahaica), seven are from Region Six (East Berbice -Corentyne), three are from Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), 21 are from Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), and two are from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). Cases in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) remain at 254.
As at Wednesday, the Ministry was able to surpass 132,000 first doses through the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Recipients of the Sinopharm vaccines are now eligible for their last jab.
Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony informed, during the COVID-19 update, “That would approximate to about 27 per cent of our adult population, and we also have started giving people their second doses. Those persons who received the Sinopharm vaccine are now up for their second dose. For those, we have already completed about 3,760 persons.”
But as the country seeks to reach herd immunity, he commented that it is not just a Government effort, but one which must involve all stakeholders.
“For us to reach herd immunity or to get most of our adult population, this is a collective effort. Everybody must be involved; so, whether you’re in one sector or another, we all must play a role in encouraging others to get the vaccine. We have been doing well so far,” Dr Anthony posited.
In relation to the vaccination drive, he urged, “We need to understand the opportunity before us, and we can exit this pandemic. But we can only do so if we’re all immunised. I think for those persons who say they’re fed-up wearing masks and abiding by all these rules, well, the faster you take the vaccine and encourage others to take the vaccine, the faster we will be able to remove those rules.”
Going forward, testing is expected to continue at the same rate in order to detect new positives. The Minister has said new cases are unearthed every day because of this robust testing mechanism.
“We have been consistently testing a lot of people that we’re able to identify new cases. Over the last 24 hours, we have identified about 143 cases, and that’s because we have a robust testing programme. Our testing system is in every region. If you need to get a COVID-19 test, you can come to one of our hospitals and they’ll be able to do the test there.”
