…active cases stand at 160
The COVID-19 outbreak in Guyana’s hinterland regions continues to worsen, as, on Saturday, eight new cases have been confirmed from 131 tests conducted in 24 hours. 
This now brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Guyana up to 360, the Public Health Ministry’s updated COVID-19 Dashboard revealed.
Guyana Times understands that all of these eight new cases are from Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
There are now 160 active cases in the country. In institutional isolation, there are four other cases in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC).
Additionally, 33 persons are in institutional quarantine.
However, the COVID-19 death toll remains at 20.
Guyana’s latest COVID fatality was announced on Friday; but the victim, 56-year-old Roger Martindale of Bartica, Region Seven, died since Tuesday, and his family are refuting the Ministry’s claim because they had no prior information of this.
Meanwhile, two more persons have recovered from the life-threatening disease, bringing the total number of recovered cases up to 180.
Additionally, to date, a total of 4,188 persons have been tested for the novel coronavirus, of which some 3,827 are negative.
Saturday’s COVID-19 statistics reflect a worrying trend of increasing coronavirus cases in the various hinterland regions.
The regional hotspots are Moruca and Mabaruma in Region One; Aranka, Bartica and Sulphur Rose in Region Seven; Itabac and Mahdia in Region Eight; and Lethem in Region Nine.
Brazil currently has over 2 million coronavirus cases, with deaths exceeding 80,000.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Region of the Americas is more than 8,292,000 while the number of deaths has exceeded 329,000.
Globally, there are in excess of 15.5 million coronavirus cases recorded, while the death toll has reached over 635,000. (G8)
