– count now 57
The number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb, with two new persons testing positive in the latest statistics.
From statistics released by the Public Health Ministry as of Thursday, the coronavirus cases stand at 57, with the death toll remaining at six.
Some 260 persons have been tested thus far and nine of the confirmed cases have managed to recover. The number of persons in institutional isolation rose to 42, with 14 others in institutional quarantine.
Prior to these figures, Guyana had recorded seven confirmed cases in just one day. At that time, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud explained that Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) still accounted for most of the cases in the country, with more than 80 per cent in Georgetown.
It was reported earlier this week that two per cent of the COVID-19 cases was found in Regions One (Barima-Waini) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), and five per cent in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). Currently, testing is only conducted at the National Public Health Reference Lab at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
According to Dr Persaud, males represent most of those who have tested positive for the deadly virus to date. In the over-50 group, he noted, males and females are almost equally affected. However, the CMO explained that in the 30 to 49 age group, the ratio was almost 4:1 when comparing males to females who tested positive.
Meanwhile, calls to the COVID-19 hotline have amounted to 1966 – a figure which Dr Persaud said the Ministry was “extremely happy” about. At that time, he reminded persons to also use the COVID-19 app as well as the hotline in their respective regions to seek information on this disease.
All ten administrative regions have launched hotlines. Caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo announced on Saturday via a virtual press conference that private hospitals were given the green light to import kits and conduct testing. Since the epidemic, only the National Public Health Reference Laboratory was permitted to process testing kits.
Government had initially said that only the National Public Health Reference Laboratory was permitted to test for COVID-19, but has since buckled as numbers continue to climb in Guyana.
Nagamootoo claimed, “I know we are working in cooperation with the private sector and we’ve now given the green light for private hospitals to import their own testing kits so that you can supplement and do rapid testing on both State and non-State institutions.”
