70-Y-O woman is Guyana’s 215th COVID-19 fatality

— active cases skyrocket to 930 with 64 new cases on Sunday

Another person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has died, the Ministry of Health reported on Sunday. This now takes the death toll to 215.
The latest fatality is a 70-year-old female from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), who died on Saturday while receiving care at a medical facility.
Over the past week, Guyana recorded seven COVID-19 deaths. These include: two men – a 70-year-old from Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and a 50-year-old from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) – who died on Friday; three more males, two of whom were 66 years old and from Region Four, and a 42-year-old from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) all died on Wednesday; then a 66-year-old female from the Demerara-Mahaica region became Guyana’s 209th fatality after she died on Tuesday, and an 89-year-old female from Region Three, who died on Monday, was the country’s first COVID-19 death last week.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry also reported on Sunday that 64 more persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Guyana.
According to statistics provided by the Ministry, the total number of confirmed cases now stand at 9649 – 4938 males and 4711 females. Alarmingly, of the positive cases, 930 are currently active.
This includes 12 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the remaining 918 persons in isolation, that is, 57 in institutional isolation and the other 867 in home isolation.
Additionally, there are also 13 persons in institutional quarantine.
Some 8498 persons have recovered from the life-threatening virus in the country to date – nine more recoveries than the figure reported the previous day.
A total of 82,106 persons have been tested thus far for the novel coronavirus in Guyana.
Of the 64 new cases recorded on Sunday, five were detected in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); a whopping 43 cases in the Demerara-Mahaica region; one in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); 12 in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region; one in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and two cases in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
The figures in the other four regions – Region One (Barima-Waini), Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) – remained the same.
In order to curb the spread of the virus and reduce the country’s death toll from the pandemic, Guyana rolled out its vaccination campaign last week and has thus far inoculated more than 15,500.
The exercise started with 3000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine donated by the Barbados Government. These were given to frontline medical workers.
Then Guyana received 20,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China, followed by a whopping 80,000 doses of the AstraZeneca jab from the Indian Government.
Another 104,000 doses are expected through the COVAX mechanism and within the next two weeks, an additional 50,000 doses of the Russian-developed Sputnik vaccine will reach Guyana’s shores.
Elderly persons and those with comorbidities along with members of the Joint Services and teachers are currently being vaccinated.
Meanwhile, health authorities are reminding all Guyanese to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No 15), which were extended for this month and will be in effect until March 31, 2021.
Among these measures is the 22:30h (10 pm) to 04:00h (4 am) national curfew which remains intact. Restaurants and places of worship continue to operate at 40 per cent capacity. Gyms are to operate at 50 per cent capacity while sporting events are only permitted with approval from the Health Minister.
The order further emphasises the need for correct and consistent use of a face mask when leaving 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.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as of Sunday, some 122,524,424 confirmed cases were reported globally along with 2,703,620 deaths.
The World Health Organisation 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 53,937,714 while the death toll in the region has gone up to 1,299,243.