…1 more death, 44 new cases recorded
The Health Ministry is in the process of reviewing the COVID-19 protocols for persons arriving in Guyana.
During Monday’s COVID-19 update, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony said given that there has been an increase in COVID-19 vaccines globally, vaccination requirements are being considered for entry into the country. Currently, Guyana accepts a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival.
“We are currently reviewing our protocol; we have a team that is currently reviewing that based on people now getting vaccinated and to see how we can do both PCR and vaccination as a requirement.”
Dr Anthony said while other countries are accepting antigen tests for entry, Guyana only accepts PCR tests.
“The reason being is that antigen tests are not as sensitive as the PCR. With PCR testing, if somebody is positive, you can know within a short period of time, but with antigen, it takes a long time, people generally will have to be symptomatic before you see a positive result,” he explained.
He noted that some 49.9 per cent of the population has received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines available in Guyana.
To date, 242,991 persons have received their first dose of the vaccine. This is approximately 49.9 per cent of the country’s adult population. 128,252 persons or approximately 26.3 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.
New death, cases
Also on Monday, the Ministry announced that a 70-year-old woman from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) died as a result of the novel coronavirus, taking the overall death toll to 513.
In addition, there were 44 new cases reported.
According to the Ministry, of the new cases, one was in Region One (Barima-Waini); three in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); three in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 16 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); two in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 17 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and two in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
There are a total of 1232 active cases with 12 persons in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). One hundred and seven persons are in institutional isolation, two persons in institutional quarantine and 1111 in home isolation.
