79 new COVID-19 cases recorded; 13 in ICU

…testing boosted in vulnerable communities

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Guyana continues to raise in Guyana, the Health Ministry is looking to boost testing in communities that are vulnerable to the virus.
On Wednesday, the Ministry reported 79 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.
According to the Ministry’s updated COVID-19 Dashboard, the total number of COVID-19 cases now stands at 4,324 – 2,285 are males and 2,039 are females.
But only 800 of these cases are currently active; that is, 13 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the other 787 persons in isolation. That is 62 in institutional isolation and the remaining 725 in home isolation.
There are now 32 persons in institutional quarantine.
Meanwhile, some 3,394 persons have to date recovered from the life-threatening disease.
The COVID-19 death toll remains at 130. The latest fatalities were recorded on Tuesday when a 77-year-old female from Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and a 92-year-old man from Region One (Barima-Waini) died while receiving care at medical facilities.
A total of 20,739 persons have been tested for the novel coronavirus in Guyana.
Of the 79 new cases recorded on Wednesday, a whopping 34 are from the Barima-Waini region (1); five from the Pomeroon-Supenaam region (2); nine are from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 25 cases are in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); and there is one case in each of the regions from Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), and four cases are from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice).
The figures remained the same in regions Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).
Since taking office, the PPP/C Government has embarked on a massive testing drive to ensure that all positive cases, especially asymptomatic cases, are detected.
Only last week, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony had expressed concerns about the low detection rate is some regions.
As such, he encouraged citizens to take advantage of the mobile testing units that are dispatched to various communities where high number COVID-19 cases are being detected, such as Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara.
During his latest COVID-19 update on Wednesday, Minister Anthony told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the mobile testing unit will make access for the procedure and to health officials much easier for citizens.
Last weekend, the mobile unit was stationed at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, where the Ministry had observed a recent spike in positive cases in Demerara-Mahaica (Region Four).
“We sent that unit into Diamond and surrounding communities. We thought it important to get a better picture of what is happening with the epidemic in these communities, and the way to know is to do more testing in those communities,” Minister Anthony noted.
During this coming weekend, the testing unit would be at the Grove Health Centre, EBD. On Saturday and Sunday, testing will commence at 09:00h.
A schedule has been drawn up for communities that most need testing, and that schedule will be published once it has been finalised.
“We have also worked out a schedule where, on a periodic and, ad hoc basis, we’ll be sending these units into other regions and other communities to get a sense of what is going on in these areas. So that would be an ongoing process from now on,” the Minister added.
Minister Anthony is encouraging Guyanese who feel they have been exposed to the disease to take full advantage of the opportunity to get tested.