Guyana in 3rd wave of COVID-19 pandemic propelled by Delta variant – Dr Anthony

…vaccination “not mandatory”, but gazetted measures aim to create safe work environment – Ali

Guyana is currently in its third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and according to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony, this is being driven primarily by the Delta variant.

“We are in the third wave. We feel that this one is being propelled by the Delta variant, and we are unfortunately going to see more cases and more hospitalisations,” Dr Anthony said during a press conference on Wednesday at the Ocean View hospital, which is being used to treat COVID-19-infected patients.
While the Guyana Government has not officially confirmed the presence of the Delta variant in the country, the Health Minister had previously explained that they are operating with the assumption that it has spread to local shores, given the increasing number of cases and hospitalisations, especially among the younger age groups.

Guyana does not have the capacity to conduct gene-sequencing, which is done with samples for COVID-infected persons to determine the variants, and in the past had to send 10 samples for testing abroad. While those 10 samples were returned negative for COVID variants back in February, Dr Anthony said a few weeks ago, conducting more gene-sequencing is not a “priority” at this moment, since it would not change Government’s response or treatment of COVID-19 infections.
However, the Trinidad and Tobago Government reported last week that the Delta variant was detected in a traveller from Guyana.
As at Wednesday, Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll stood at 624, while active cases are currently 1950, of which some 114 persons are hospitalised countrywide, and there are 34 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Adequate
Dr Anthony said during the press conference that the systems in place are adequate to deal with the current COVID-19 infections. But with cases, hospitalisations and deaths steadily increasing, he noted that more hospital space and equipment would be needed.
The Health Minister said critical to the preparation for the rising cases is the availability of oxygen. As it is, one patient uses approximately 15 litres per minute, with the maximum being 30 litres per minute for critically-ill patients.
While there is adequate oxygen available right now, Dr Anthony posited, they are nonetheless working out different scenarios and catering for the possibility of a surge in cases.
“If we have a surge in cases, obviously we are going to have an increased demand on oxygen. We have been talking to the manufacturers about increasing capacity and what else can be done, and they are looking at a number of scenarios. So we have plotted a number of scenarios, [like] if we increase to so much, how much more oxygen we will demand…,” he stated.
Only about three weeks ago, a consultant from the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) was in Guyana, and looked at the various hospitals across the country to assess their oxygen capabilities and how to improve their capacity.
“So, as we speak, every regional hospital has been in a preparation mode to add more oxygen capacity,” the Health Minister noted.

Oxygen plants
Additionally, Dr Anthony revealed that Government is in the process of procuring two oxygen plants. They have already been ordered, but due to the global demand and competition, they would arrive until later this year.
The Health Minister went on to point out that Government has been pushing its vaccination campaign which was launched to minimise the number of hospitalisations, since a sudden surge can overwhelm the country’s capacity to cope with the pandemic.
In fact, he pointed out that over the last week alone, there was a surge in COVID-19 cases.
“We’ve had, over the last 24 hours, 222 cases…coming from almost 3000 tests that were done. But that’s still a lot of cases that we’re detecting… We’re seeing more people coming in the hospitals, we’re seeing more cases, and we have to get people to take precautions.
“In the same period when we had all these [new] cases over the last 24 hours, we probably had only 3500 vaccinations. Can we do more? Of course we can, because we have more than 100 [vaccination] sites operating,” Minister Anthony stressed.
To date, some 315,279 persons have received a first dose vaccine, representing 61.5 per cent of the adult population. Meanwhile, 163,806 persons 18 years and older are fully vaccinated, representing 31.7 per cent.
In regard to children, over 3400 have received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab. After receiving 146,250 doses of the Pfizer vaccines, which the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for adolescents, last week Government rolled out vaccination for children between the ages of 12 and 17 ahead of the reopening of schools next month.

Not mandatory
Meanwhile, Government has since implemented certain measures that have resulted in most state entities as well as some Private Sector companies requiring staff members to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or produce regular negative PCR tests.
Additionally, social spots and services are also made available to only vaccinated people.
However, there has been pushback from certain quarters, including some healthcare workers and teachers. In fact, legal actions have been mounted by several workers’ unions challenging the vaccination requirements.
But, in response, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Wednesday told reporters on the sidelines of an event that these COVID-19 measures are aimed at creating a safe work environment, especially for those Guyanese who have sought to protect themselves by getting vaccinated.
“We have not made vaccination mandatory. What we have done is to say that in order to secure people who are vaccinated and have a safe work environment – and part of the labour relations is to have a safe work environment – if unvaccinated persons have a greater possibility of creating an unsafe environment, then you have to make decisions,” the Head of State contended.
He further pointed out that people need to understand the public health issue at hand, and the implications of having an unvaccinated population, particularly in the face of fast-spreading and deadlier COVID-19 mutations such as the Delta variant.
“Look at what is happening in many countries in the region with Delta. Many of the countries are running out of oxygen, and if we understand this and the public health implications of this, I’m sure we’ll all make the right decision, that we have to support vaccination,” President Ali posited. (G8)