COVID-19 cases still being recorded in Guyana – Health Minister confirms

Some four years after the COVID-19 Pandemic shook the world including Guyana, some cases are still being recorded among the Guyanese population, according to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony.
While he did not disclose any statistics in relation to the total number of cases recorded in 2024, the Minister highlighted that the cases recorded were not significant but noted that most persons do not present themselves to be tested even though they experience the symptoms.
“For covid cases, we didn’t record many, not because they aren’t covid cases, so they are still people who would get covid because the virus is still circulating. They are different mutations of the virus but unfortunately, a lot of people don’t come in to be tested, so if they don’t come to be tested then we wouldn’t be able to say how many cases we have.”
COVID-19 first appeared on a small scale in November 2019 with the first large cluster appearing in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The virus that causes COVID-19 is called SARS-CoV-2, or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

Guyana recorded its first COVID-19 case in March 2020 – that of a 52-year-old woman who had travelled from New York. The woman died at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) while receiving treatment.
Just three days later, three additional positive cases were detected.
Meanwhile, in October 2022, an analysis of Guyana’s coronavirus numbers showed that 31,329 persons contracted the virus for the year.
It was reported that January 2022 saw the highest spike, at 19,900 cases. By February, the number dropped to 2570 cases. The following months showed 379 in March; 267 in April; 1686 in May; 2715 in June; 2456 in July; 1032 in August; 287 in September and 37 for October thus far.
As of March 2023, the country had recorded a total of 73,114 Covid cases with over 1000 deaths.
Symptoms of the coronavirus include fever, cough, tiredness, diarrhea, pains, sore throat and loss of taste or smell. The more serious symptoms are difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain and loss of speech or movement.