Guyana records 148th COVID-19 death, 35 new cases

– Deputy Mayor of Anna Regina latest victim

The Deputy Mayor of Anna Regina, Rudolph Williams is reportedly the latest victim to have succumbed to the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19), after he tested positive and was hospitalised at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

This is one of two deaths to be reported on Tuesday, raising the death toll to 148.
Williams died on Tuesday afternoon while receiving treatment. Guyana Times understands that he was diagnosed about two weeks ago and admitted to the Suddie Hospital. As his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to GPHC.
His family has been placed in home quarantine.
Meanwhile, the second death was an 87-year-old man of Siparuta village, Corentyne River, Region Six, (East Berbice-Corentyne). The man died while receiving medical care at one of Guyana’s medical facilities. He was the second victim to have succumbed to the virus from the Amerindian settlement.
In addition, the Health Ministry reported that 35 new cases were recorded as of Tuesday, taking the total number of persons infected with the virus to 5189, which comprise 2693 males and 2496 females.
The Ministry reported that seven persons remain in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) while another 72 are in institutional isolation, 766 are in home isolation and 36 patients are in institutional quarantine. The total number of active cases is 843.
Out of the grand total, 4204 persons have recovered from the virus. So far, Guyana has tested 28,160 persons since the first case of the virus was detected in March.
Nevertheless, new cases were recorded in Region One (Barima-Waini); Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
An update on the situation in Siparuta showed that 35 positives have been confirmed. A team has been sent into the community to bring the situation under control. The Health Minister said while there isn’t any lockdown, the Regional Health Office is considering such actions should the cases increase.
Meanwhile, health teams are also monitoring 52 cases in Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony has urged businesses and the general public to ensure full compliance with the COVID-19 guidelines, as the upcoming Christmas season takes effect.
He shared this position during Tuesday’s update, noting that Operation COVI-CURB will be strengthened in some areas, to sensitise the public. Stakeholders are urged to comply with all of the guidelines, since Christmas brings a host of activities.
“We want to talk to responsible citizens and businesses to really come on board because we are going into the Christmas season and if we behave responsibly, we will be able to stabilise the number of cases that we are having,” Dr Anthony emphasised.
He noted that irresponsible behaviour could cause the situation to spiral out of control, infecting many people and overwhelming the health system.
“We want to urge people and businesses to put in place measures to help us with a reduction in these cases. Those measures would include to ensure people coming to your business wear a mask, sanitise their hands and that you try to have social distancing. If you have too many people crowding up, they can easily get infected because we don’t know who are the carriers of this infection, who might be asymptomatic.”
He said some of the business outlets have been doing a “fantastic” job with the implementation of measures to protect the employees and customers but more people must come onboard with compliance.