79-Y-O man is Guyana’s latest COVID-19 death

…41 new cases recorded

A pensioner, who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), died on Saturday, according to the Health Ministry.
This now takes the total number of deaths from the pandemic to 155.
The latest fatality is a 79-year-old male from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), who died while receiving care at a medical facility.
Officials of the Ministry said that they have contacted all relatives and persons to facilitate contact tracing and rapid assistance to everyone who may have been exposed to the now-deceased person.
The last COVID-19 death in Guyana was recorded on December 6, when a 34-year-old female, also from Region Four, died at a medical facility.

New cases
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry also reported on Sunday that 41 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.
Guyana’s confirmed cases have now gone up to 5920 – 3060 males and 2860 females.
However, only 692 of these cases are currently active. This includes six patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the other 686 persons in isolation, that is, 50 persons in institutional isolation and the remaining 636 persons in home isolation.
There are also 35 persons in institutional quarantine. To date, some 5073 persons have recovered from the life-threatening virus.
Guyana has tested some 33,898 persons for the novel coronavirus to date.
On the other hand, the 41 new cases recorded on Sunday are from eight of the 10 administrative regions.
Four cases were detected in Region One (Barima-Waini); six in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); five in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); one case each in regions Four, Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) as well as a whopping 22 new cases in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
The figures remained the same in regions Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) with 48 and 389, respectively.
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. This has resulted in a high number of cases being detected.
As such, Health authorities are reminding Guyanese to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No 11), which are in effect until December 31, 2020. This order emphasises, among other things, 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.
If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, or need any additional information, kindly contact the COVID-19 Hotline on 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as of Sunday, some 70,461,926 COVID-19 confirmed cases were reported globally along with 1,599,704 deaths from the pandemic.
The Region of the Americas, that is, Latin America and the Caribbean, continues to be the most affected region by the virus. In fact, the WHO also reported on Sunday that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region has increased to 30,116,384, while the death toll has gone up to 776,708. (G8)