Caretaker President urges citizens to “avoid crowds, remain calm”

COVID-19

With eight confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including one death, Guyana’s caretaker President David Granger has sent out a warning to Guyanese to avoid large gatherings, in hopes of preventing further spread.

In an issued statement, the caretaker Head of State outlined all measures taken by his administration to limit social contact, and urged persons to “remain calm”.
“I urge you also to practise social distancing in public places and to avoid crowds, ceremonies including funerals and large gatherings. I urge also that persons remain calm and implement all guidelines relating to personal hygiene and infection prevention and control,” Granger indicated.
He said these warnings came in light of the fact that many persons have been ignoring advisories to take precautions. To this, the President said that the recently-established Task Force continues to monitor the pandemic.
According to Granger, the National Task Force continues to monitor the situation in Guyana, and this includes citizens’ conduct. “We are concerned that too many citizens and businesses have been ignoring public advisories and warnings… A cavalier approach in the face of this global pandemic can seriously impair our efforts to combat COVID-19.  Consequences will be devastating for the entire population.”
So far, schools have been closed until the end of the Easter vacation break, with the postponement of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) to a later date. Both the Turkeyen and Tain campuses of the University of Guyana have also been closed.
As it relates to travel restrictions, the operations at the Cheddi Jagan and the Eugene F Correia International Airports have been suspended for two weeks; while there is a ban on travel between Guyana and its bordering countries and international vessels with the exception of merchant ships.
The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has also waived the Value Added Tax (VAT) on medical supplies associated with the testing, prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Meanwhile, public servants were placed on a rotational shift system.
Granger has issued an Executive Order under the Public Health Ordinance, which has since been gazetted and states that the Public Health Ministry shall take measures to “restrain, segregate and isolate persons suffering from the disease, or who may be likely from exposure to the infection suffer from the disease”.
Additionally, the Public Health Ministry shall speedily bury or cremate the corpse of persons who died as a result of the coronavirus in addition to providing curative care. It said too that the caretaker Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence may “remove, disinfect, and destroy the personal effects, goods, buildings and any other article, material or thing exposed to infection from the disease”.
The Minister has also been empowered to prohibit or restrict the movement of persons within, to and from an infected area. The order also empowers the Minister to call on the Guyana Police Force to provide enforcement assistance, as it relates to its duties under the Order.
Granger’s conferral of far-reaching ministerial powers on Lawrence did not sit too well with the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), who said it would heighten anxieties among the Guyanese people, especially those infected with the virus.
FITUG has said it believed that every practical step should be taken to combat the spread of COVID-19, but it failed to see how the Government’s measures could be really helpful.
Former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament, Dr Vindhya Persaud during an interview with Guyana Times also expounded on the minimal changes and draconian nature of the Ordinance towards the populace.
Dr Persaud highlighted that it was just “copied and pasted” by the coalition Government from a 1945 health ordinance  without being revised.  Adding to that, there were no direct measures for COVID-19 but rather those for other infectious diseases.