COVID-19 death toll now 274 after Region 6 woman dies

…160 new cases recorded

Another person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has died, taking the total number of deaths in Guyana from the virus to 274.
This latest fatality is a 52-year-old female from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) who on Tuesday died while receiving care at a medical facility, the Health Ministry said.
With this death, the total number of persons who have died from COVID-19 thus far in the month of April has gone up to 31, with three deaths recorded this week so far. Two males – a 60-year-old from Region Six and a 56-year-old from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) – had died from the virus on Monday.
The Health Ministry also reported on Wednesday that a whopping 160 new COVID-19 cases were detected during the previous 24-hour period.
According to the updated COVID-19 dashboard, the total number of confirmed cases in Guyana is now 12,132 – 6123 males and 6009 females.
However, only 1416 of these are currently active cases, with 12 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 1404 persons in isolation – 74 in institutional isolation and 1330 in home isolation.
There are also five persons in institutional quarantine.
Further, the number of persons who have recovered from the life-threatening disease in the country to date has increased to 10,442 – some 145 more recoveries than the figure reported the previous day.
A total of 111, 885 persons have been tested for the novel coronavirus thus far in Guyana.
Of the 160 new cases reported on Wednesday, one was detected in Region One (Barima-Waini), eight in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), 20 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), a whopping 94 cases in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), 17 in the East Berbice-Corentyne region, two in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), five in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), four in Region Nine (Upper Essequibo-Upper Takutu) and nine cases in Region 10.
The number of cases recorded in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) remained unchanged.

Not abiding by requirements
The rising number of COVID-19 cases and death toll comes as local authorities continue to battle with a new wave of infections that is seeing a greater number of young people contracting the virus and infected persons becoming sicker with some requiring hospitalisation.
In fact, during the COVID-19 update on Wednesday, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony reminded persons to practise social distancing by remaining six feet apart, avoiding crowded environments, and masking up.
“If people are not abiding by these simple requirements, then unfortunately, because of the virus that is circulating within the population… you would get infected. So, people need to abide by the prevention rules that we have established and I think once they do that, they are going to remain safe,” he posited.
Meanwhile, health authorities are reminding all Guyanese to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No 16), which were extended for this month and would be in effect until April 30, 2021.
Among these measures is the 22:30h (10:30pm) to 04:00h (4am) national curfew, which – the National COVID-19 Taskforce recently reminded – remains intact, cautioning that those who fail to adhere to the guidelines would be prosecuted.
It also reinforced that only essential services are authorised to operate on a 24-hour basis and that other services and businesses are required to close operations by 21:30h (9:30 pm) in order to facilitate workers getting home by the curfew time.
Restaurants and places of worship have been given approval to operate at 40 per cent capacity. Gyms are to operate at 50 per cent capacity while sporting events are only permitted with approval from the Health Minister.
The order further emphasises the need for correct and consistent use of a face mask when leaving 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.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as of Wednesday, some 142,238,073 confirmed cases were reported globally along with 3,032,124 deaths.
The WHO had reported on Sunday that in the Region of the Americas, that is, Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 60,006,538 while the death toll has gone up to 1,456,405. (G8)