The COVID-19 curve in Guyana continues to move in an upward trajectory, with the addition of another positive case.
On Monday, statistics released by the Public Health Ministry showed that the country’s confirmed cases rose to 66, with the deaths remaining at seven.
The data showed that 328 persons were tested. A total of 50 persons were placed in institutional isolation while 17 were placed in institutional quarantine and five in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
From the dashboard, the number of recovered cases stood at nine. This data shows that the country is yet to embark on the journey of flattening the curve. It also demonstrates that 20.1 per cent of the tested individuals were positive for the virus with a mortality rate of about 10 per cent.
Director of the Food Policy Division at the Ministry, Dinte Conway on Sunday reiterated the importance of healthy eating on Sunday. Zeroing in on nutrition, she stated that it is an essential part of protecting against the virus. The vitamins and minerals needed, she said, can be easily sourced through produce found locally.
Some sources of Vitamin A include oily fish such as sardines, eggs, whole grains, beans, nuts and some types of fruit. Vitamin B, which is responsible for first response in the body, can be found in green leafy vegetables, nuts, chicken, meats and fruits among other products. Vitamin C and E, which protects cells from oxidated stress, can be found in but is not limited to foods such as carrots, limes, tomatoes, cherries and guava.
The use of ginger and garlic coupled with a low salt intake is also advised.
Two days ago, a seventh person lost his life while battling the virus. Sydney Trellis, a 49-year-old man from Wismar Housing Scheme, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), had reportedly shown up at the Linden Hospital Complex with the symptoms before being transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where his condition was listed as critical.
On Saturday night, however, caretaker Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence announced his death in an update on the pandemic.
The visually impaired man was the first person to contract the virus in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). He recently accommodated several guests from overseas. It is suspected that one of the visitors infected him.
Worldwide, there have been 2,241,359 positive cases with 151,551 deaths. In the region of the Americas, the statistics showed 821,860 cases with 38,258 deaths.
Only Friday, Country Representative of the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), Dr William Adu-Krow warned Guyana against lifting the emergency measures too soon, noting that it could result in an exponential spike in the number of cases here.
In fact, he noted that if the measures are lifted as scheduled, then by mid-May there could be as many as 5000 cases in the country.
Last month, PAHO/WHO had projected that Guyana would record some 20,000 COVID-19 cases. But the country representative explained that this projection was in the event that the country did nothing to curb the spread.
