COVID-19 cases on the rise again – Health Minister

The public has been advised to abide by the COVID-19 guidelines that they have been flouting in recent time, in wake of statistics which show positives on the rise again.
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony informed in Tuesday’s briefing that active cases have reached almost 200 after 42 new infections surfaced in one day.
Dispersion of new cases indicate that three were detected in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 25 in Region Four (Mahaica-Berbice); 13 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and one in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). Three persons are hospitalised at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
“You can see this is an increase from the cases that we have been seeing over the last couple of weeks. This is a significant increase and we have to be mindful of that. One of the things that I want to urge people is to start taking precautions,” Dr Anthony highlighted.
As of Tuesday, the confirmed cases since March 2020 have reached 63,628. The updated dashboard shows fatalities at 1228. There are three persons in institutional isolation, 150 in home isolation and four in institutional quarantine. Some 62,244 of the 29,303 males and 34,325 females that were infected with the virus have recovered.
In Guyana, 605,461 tests have been processed to date.
The Minister pointed out that within recent weeks, persons have been discarding the public health measures recommended to keep them safe. If this continues, he noted that infections can rise.
“Over the last couple of weeks, people have discarded a lot of the public health measures that we have been telling them to use, especially wearing masks when you’re in an indoor environment and around people. A lot of persons have been ignoring that particular measure. If we continue to do so, there are chances that you can get infected.”

Vaccination
In Guyana, 440,814 first doses and 340,221 second doses were distributed to adults. This is approximately 85.9 per cent and 66.3 per cent, respectively. For children aged 12 to 17, 25,309 or 34.7 per cent are completely vaccinated. Booster coverage is 63,173.
“Our vaccination booster rates are relatively low so I would really want to urge people to come and get their booster doses. That is also very important…It is relatively low compared to the persons who received their first doses. There is a lot of room for improvement here and I hope that people would understand, now that we’re seeing an upward trend in the cases,” the Minister emphasised.
Meanwhile, travel guidelines have remained the same. Persons coming into the country are required to produce a negative PCR or antigen test within 72 hours, with proof of full vaccination. The guidelines vary for outgoing passengers, depending on the requirements of their destination.
If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or needs any additional information, they are asked to contact the COVID-19 Hotline 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy.
Global figures show that almost 515.7 million people have tested positive for the virus and 6.2 million have died. In the Americas, more than 153.9 million confirmed cases have been reported with over 2.7 million deaths. (G12)