Guyana records 2 more COVID-19-related deaths

…42 new cases

As at December 22, 2020, Guyana has recorded two additional coronavirus-related deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 162, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health (MoH).
The victims have been identified as an 88-year-old man from Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and a 68-year-old woman from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica). Both persons died while receiving medical attention at one of the Ministry’s COVID-19 facilities.
Additionally, the Health Ministry has said that 42 new cases of the deadly virus have been recorded, which takes the total confirmed cases to 6,258.
Four persons are currently warded in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and a breakdown of the total number of cases shows that 3,237 males have contracted the virus, while 3,021 women have tested positive.
Based on the daily dashboard, 5,448 persons have recovered, while 28 are in institutional isolation and 616 are isolating at home. Some 36,660 tests have been conducted thus far, and 16 persons remain in institutional quarantine.
A breakdown has shown that 11 new cases were detected in Region 4 (Demerara-Mahaica), 16 in Region 5 (Mahaica-Berbice); 2 in Region 8 (Potaro-Siparuni), and 13 in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
There are still 931 cases in Region 1(Barima-Waini); 186 in Region 2 (Pomeroon-Supenaam); 442 in Region 3 (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 303 in Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne); 537 in Region 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and 396 in Region 9 (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).
Just Tuesday, the Ministry announced the death of a 73-year-old man from Region 5 (Mahaica-Berbice). He died on Monday while receiving care at a medical facility, and his death has been the ninth for the month of December.

COVI-CURB
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips, on Tuesday told the National Assembly that Government has been working diligently to assess the COVID-19 situation and develop reasonable, logical ways of dealing with the effects the pandemic has had on the lives of citizens and the economy.
In a Department of Public Information report, the Prime Minister said Operation COVI-CURB has been effective in engaging the public and raising awareness of the disease. Operation COVI-CURB was implemented by the National COVID-19 Task Force to educate the populace about the disease and reinforce the importance of adhering to the preventative COVID-19 measures.
“With the involvement of Members of the Joint Services and volunteers across the country, a multi-sectoral, inter-agency approach form of collaboration was taken to make the operation a very successful one. The education along with enforcement has seen improvement in the way persons respond to the coronavirus at all levels, and by that, I mean from businesses and organisations right down to civilians,” the Prime Minister is quoted as saying.
He noted that though challenges exist, the Government will continue to tackle the pandemic in the best way possible from every angle, to ensure the safety of citizens first.
“But at the same time, taking into consideration the fact that we need to keep our economy running, so that families can take care of themselves and people can get back to work in a safe environment,” Prime Minister Phillips said.

New strain
Recent reports have confirmed that a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, has been found in the United Kingdom. This has resulted in stricter coronavirus restrictions being implemented in London and other areas. There are over 23 known mutations, a worrying factor in the global community.
Speaking about this issue, the Health Minister said, “As more investigations are done, we’ll probably get a better picture of what’s happening…
A number of countries have moved to stop air traffic between themselves and the UK. So, we had discussions with CARPHA yesterday, and we’re trying to get a consensus of a Caribbean position, how to react to this. Our advice from CARPHA is that we should wait a little bit to see what is happening, and get scientific information before we make a decision.”
There are two Caribbean countries that have proceeded to restricting flights from the UK; they are Jamaica and Grenada.