847 COVID-19 cases, 2 more unvaccinated persons die in 24 hours

…new infections mostly among younger age groups

The surge in COVID-19 cases continues in Guyana as some 847 more infections were detected within a 24-hour period and according to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony, a majority of these new cases is mostly from the younger age groups.
During his COVID-19 update on Friday, Dr Anthony pointed out that of the new cases recorded, some 489 are between the ages of 25 to 39. This figure climbed to 589 for the 25 to 44 age cohort.
“I would say that the most active grouping where we are seeing these cases is this younger grouping that is really mobile, moving around from place to place, probably going to bars and restaurants and things like that. They are the ones who we are seeing that are getting infected,” the Health Minister stated.
Additionally, some 26 new infections were detected in the 15 to 19 age group, 22 in the 10 to 14 cohort, and 21 new cases in the 5 to 9 grouping.
Meanwhile, the 847 new infections have resulted in a significant spike in the active cases across Guyana, which has now gone up to 4295.
These include 29 active cases in Region One (Barima-Waini), 74 in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), 351 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), a staggering 2789 cases in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), 89 in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), 639 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), 113 cases in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), one case in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) – which the Minister explained is due to less testing – 208 more cases in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), and 203 active cases in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
There are also 80 persons who are hospitalised across the country with 14 of them on oxygen. Some 52 of these hospitalisations are at the Ocean View Hospital, where five patients are currently in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
In addition, there are 91 persons in institutional isolation and another 4178 persons in home isolation. There are also 12 other persons in institutional quarantine.

Deaths
Meanwhile, two more persons who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have died within that 24-hour period.
These latest fatalities are a 60-year-old female from the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara region and a 66-yearold male from the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region. They were both unvaccinated and died on Thursday.
With these, the total number of deaths from the pandemic in Guyana has gone up to 1066; while the COVID-19 death toll for the year thus far is now 12.
Meanwhile, some 37,895 persons have recovered from the life-threatening disease to date – 29 more recoveries than the figure reported the previous day.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, approximately 441,438 persons have been tested so far and of this, some 20,214 males and 23,015 females were found to be positive.
Health authorities have attributed this surge in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks to the Omicron variant, which is highly transmissible.
Against this backdrop, Dr Anthony has urged persons who have tested positive for the virus to isolate themselves in order to curb the rapid spread of the disease, which is likely to persist throughout the country.
“Most of these persons who have tested positive, they are mildly symptomatic because you see from hospitalisation numbers, not a lot of these persons are in hospitals but rather, they should be in isolation… [Infected] people must stay home and don’t be in contact with others because if they are and they are not wearing masks and taking precautions then they would be able to spread the virus to other people.”
Nevertheless, as more people continue to get vaccinated, authorities are urging the public to continue observing all COVID-19 preventative measures, particularly masking in public, social distancing and frequent hand washing and sanitising.
The measures also include vaccination requirements to access any public building such as restaurants, places of worship, schools as well as Government buildings. There is also a midnight to 04:00h curfew in place. (G8)