…whopping 236 new cases recorded
Six more persons who tested positive for the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) have died, the Health Ministry reported on Wednesday.
With these deaths, the COVID-19 death toll in Guyana has now gone up to 374.
Among the latest fatalities are a 47-year-old female, who died on Tuesday, and an 80-year-old male, who died on Monday – both of Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo). The other four deaths were all recorded in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) also on Monday last, with a 53-year-old female and a 60-year-old female succumbing as well as a 67-year-old male and a 73-year-old male.
The Ministry said that these patients were admitted with COVID-19-like symptoms and died while receiving care at medical institutions across the country. Samples were taken at the time of admission which subsequently returned positive tests.
Only on Tuesday, seven other COVID-19 deaths, including that of a 17-year-old boy, were reported. With 73 fatalities so far, May is the deadliest month since the outbreak of the virus here last year. Sixty-six deaths were recorded in April.
New cases
Meanwhile, a whopping 236 new COVID-19 cases were detected – the highest number of cases recorded in a 24-hour period in Guyana.
According to the Health Ministry’s updated COVID-19 dashboard on Wednesday, the total number of confirmed cases in the country has now increased to 16,556.
However, only 2038 of these are currently active cases, including 20 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 100 persons in institutional isolation and 1918 in home isolation.
There are also five persons in institutional quarantine.
To date, some 14,144 persons have recovered from the life-threatening virus in Guyana – 91 more recoveries than the figure recorded the previous day.
Further, a total of 148,436 persons have been tested for the novel coronavirus in Guyana over the past year, of which 8224 males and 8332 females returned positive results.
Of the 236 new COVID-19 cases reported on Wednesday, two were from Region One (Barima-Waini); 17 from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 60 from Demerara-Mahaica; five from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 11 from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); four in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni); 73 from Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni); 53 from Region Nine and 11 cases from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
In order to protect citizens and move towards achieving herd immunity, the Guyana Government has been aggressively rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination campaign and pleading with persons to get immunised against the potentially deadly virus.
To date, more than 187,200 persons have received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Guyana, of that number, more than 58,300 persons are now fully immunised. These numbers are expected to rise as the vaccination exercise continues to be rolled out across the country.
In the meantime, health authorities are urging Guyanese to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 emergency measures (No 17), which are in effect until May 31, 2021. This order emphasises, among other things, the need for correct and consistent use of a face mask when leaving your home; the importance of maintaining six feet of physical distance from others, and the need for good hand hygiene to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The order also imposes a 22:30h-04:00h (10:30 pm-4:00 am) national curfew, which the National COVID-19 Taskforce has been working to enforce by prosecuting persons who are in breach of the measures.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as of Wednesday, some 167,492,769 confirmed cases were reported globally along with 3,482,907 deaths.
WHO also reported on Wednesday that in the Region of the Americas, that is, Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 66,414,286 while the death toll has gone up to 1,625,371.
If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, or need any additional information, kindly contact the COVID-19 Hotline on 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy.
