COVID numbers might be understated with self-testing kits – Health Minister

…638 active cases being monitored

Over 600 coronavirus cases that are being monitored across Guyana might be an underestimation of the country’s actual numbers with the rise of self-testing kits and the virus now mimicking the common flu, according to Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony.
Active cases in Guyana have increased dramatically to 638 but health officials have pointed out that this can be an underestimate. Many persons are now using self-testing kids and these results are not disclosed to the Ministry. On the other hand, others are treating the virus as the common flu.
“There are people who are testing and they are not reporting to us because there is a lot of self-testing kit that is available for people. So, people are using them, checking their status and if they’re positive, they’re staying home. We wouldn’t have that information unless it’s reported to us. Additionally, the symptoms now of COVID-19 mimic now a flu. Maybe there are persons getting such symptoms and are not making the differentiation…They treat it like a flu and stay home.”
The active infections are dispersed across the country, with three in Region One; 39 in Region Two; 67 in Region Three; 357 in Region Four; 21 in Region Five; 111 in Region Six, four each in Regions Seven and Nine and 32 in Region 10.
Zeroing in on hotspots in the country, the Health Minister pointed out that keeping track will become difficult if people do not report their positive status.
“It’s difficult now to use cases to tell you what those hotspots are because I think a lot of people are not reporting so it is hard to keep track of the incidents of this disease if people don’t report.”
From the clinical picture seen thus far, Dr Anthony explained that the BA.2 and BA.2.12 .1 subvariants of Omicron are circulating in Guyana. Despite a high transmission rate, the infection is milder.
“It can cause hospitalisation, especially for persons who are older and unvaccinated. We are seeing cases of a few persons getting sick and requiring hospitalisation but it is not causing much hospitalisation as previous variants. We’ll have to be on the lookout for this,” the Minister divulged.
Nevertheless, amid the new urge, he underscored that following the guidelines and measures will prevent a rise in infections.
“We want people to take precautions when they are in an indoor environment especially and those precautions require people to wear masks. A lot of people still don’t want to wear masks so if you don’t and you go into an environment where people have the disease and they’re not wearing a mask too, then you can get infected,” he cautioned.

New infections
Meanwhile, on Friday, the Health Ministry reported 29 new cases. There are 64,521 confirmed cases – 29,667 males and 34,856 females.

There are three persons in the Intensive Care Unit, 16 in institutional isolation, 603 in home isolation and one in institutional quarantine. Deaths remain at 1232 while 62,667 persons have recovered. To date, Guyana has processed 625,978 tests.
Adult vaccination numbers show 441,911 first doses and 341,493 second doses being administered, translating to 86.1 per cent and 66.6 per cent, respectively.
For children, 34,689 first doses and 25,414 second doses have been administered. Only 64,989 booster shots have been administered.
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 525.4 million people have tested positive for the virus and 6.2 million have died. In the Americas, more than 156.5 million confirmed cases have been reported with over 2.7 million deaths.