Guyana defers full reopening of airports due to COVID-19 spike

The phased re-opening of the Cheddi Jagan and Eugene F Correia international airports will be deferred until further notice due to the spike in COVID-19 cases.
Instead of a planned August 1, the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) stated that the airport will remain closed to all international flights except for outgoing flights, cargo flights, medical evacuation flights, technical stops for fuel only and special authorised flights.
The NCTF stated that this decision was made after careful assessment of the current COVID-19 situation in Guyana.
The country’s borders and airports were closed on March 17 to bar the importation of positive COVID-19 cases, which has crippled flights.
Meanwhile, Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Colonel (ret’d) Egbert Field stated that the deferral is critical to ensure that the country’s health is protected.
“We have to be careful that the health of the nation is also looked at, so it is a balancing act in the sense that we have to ensure that the visitors do not bring additional burden in view of COVID-19 to the citizens of Guyana.”
He added that “each step of the way, you have to keep adjusting, amending, making sure that you conduct your quality control of the systems and measures which you put in place, so it is a gradual process,” Field noted.
Field explained that the Public Health Ministry is working with limited resources, and with the high infection rate, the re-opening of the airports much be carefully assessed.
“You cannot want to bring people, and you don’t have the relevant amount of resources to take care of infected individuals inside much less, outside,” he explained.
Moreover, he reprimanded the careless behaviour of the general populace in following the COVID-19 guideline.
“Health authorities are already encountering challenges in handling the spread of the virus, but more needs to be done from the populace. I would like to see penalties exactly against individuals who do not conform to the measures and the protocols,” he concluded.
As of July 31, 2020, Guyana has recorded 413 confirmed cases with 20 deaths. For just the month of July, the country recorded a whopping 165 positive COVID-19 cases. (G1)