Almost 7000 children aged 0-14 contracted COVID – Dr Anthony

– 2 new cases detected in 24 hours

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Monday stated that almost 7000 children between ages 0 and 14 would have contracted COVID-19 since the virus was first detected in March 2020.
With the opening of schools on Monday, the Minister encouraged parents to have their children vaccinated against COVID-19 while reiterating that some 6880 children would have contracted the virus.
Dr Anthony’s analysis shows that there have been 1759 (890 males and 869 females) cases among children aged zero to four; 2251 (1164 males and 1067 females) children aged five to nine, and 2870 (1356 males and 1554 females) children aged 10 to 14.
With the increase in the positives among children, the Government acquired several thousand doses of the Pfizer vaccines for children aged five to 11 years old. Currently, 7964 first doses and 3406 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered to the 5-11 cohort.
For the 12-17 age cohort, 35,636 or 48.9 per cent of that age cohort have received the first dose, while 26,132 or 35.8 per cent have received a second.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry on Tuesday reported that two new COVID-19 cases were detected in the last 24 hours. Statistics also showed that two persons remain in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
According to the Ministry, the two new cases were recorded from 81 tests that were done, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic started in March 2020 to 71,102.
One new case each was recorded in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), and the other in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica). Of the total number of recorded COVID-19 infections, 38,508 are females, and 32,594 are males.
There are 12 persons in institutional isolation, two in institutional quarantine, and 190 in home isolation. To date, some 69,620 persons have recovered from the deadly virus. The death toll remains at 1279.