“He slipped through the cracks” – sister of dead COVID-19 victim

…believes brother could have survived if he was tested from the onset

By: Shemar Alleyne

Two weeks prior to his death, 67-year-old Samuel Morris had visited a few health facilities after he started to experience symptoms related to the novel coronavirus.
Instead, he was treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for diabetes since his blood sugar had skyrocketed. After receiving the treatment, he was sent home.
He battled with severe respiratory issues until his demise on April 29 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Hospital while being eventually being treated for COVID-19.
Recollecting the pains and agony her brother went through after the wrong prognosis, Wendella Morris explained that it all started on April 12, 2020, when her brother complained of contracting a cough followed by a slight fever. At that time, they both thought it was a common cold and she advised him to be “careful” due to the fact that he is diabetic.

On April 15, his health started to deteriorate but upon visiting the GPHC, he was told that he was suffering from a lung infection.
However, the grieving sister explained that on April 16, her brother reported sick at work after he had gotten seriously ill. He, nevertheless, forced himself to work the following day and barely managed to get home in the afternoon. He was found sleeping in his car.
At that time, he reportedly told his reputed wife that his condition had worsened and without further hesitation, he was taken to the Nabaclis Health Centre the next day. There it was revealed that his blood sugar was high and as such, the doctor treated him with insulin and sent him home.

COVID-19 test
“My niece in the United States called after she found out that Samuel was not getting better and requested for him to get tested for COVID.”
They contacted the Eureka Lab and an appointment was set for him to be tested on Tuesday, April 21.

Anxiously awaiting the results from Eureka Medical Laboratories, Samuel was contacted and ordered to uplift same from the Georgetown Hospital where he was immediately admitted for the deadly virus.
The doctors at GPHC conducted another COVID-19 test and it confirmed that he was a victim of COVID-19.
“I know my brother; he is a bubbly person. You wouldn’t be around him and don’t laugh and when you can see him sitting in the chair just there turning from side to side, the way he talking you can tell he is having shortness of breath,” the sister told Guyana Times.
On April 26, Morris’ respiratory system collapsed and he was placed on a ventilator in the ICU. He succumbed on the evening of April 29, thus being recorded as the 10th death in Guyana to the deadly virus.
To date, his family is still baffled as to how he might have contracted the deadly virus since he would usually caution them to always take the precautionary measures.
The grieving sister is contending that had her brother been tested for the virus since the inception, he might have been alive since there was ample time to treat him.
In light of this, she called on the Public Health Ministry to ramp up its awareness campaigns to dispel the misinformation being peddled in the public domain.
“I feel that anybody who is at high risk like the diabetic, the hypertensive, the cardiac patients, the HIV patients, all those persons who would consider as high-risk patient, so the moment they see them turning up any symptoms, don’t wait to see more, even if you have to wait [for] a test kit just to have them saved and have others saved as well, do a COVID test and for me, there needs to be more collaboration on how to handle this.”
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 that had not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.
Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.
As of May 8, 785 tests have been conducted of which it was verified that 49 were in isolation. Three have developed worsened conditions and are seeking further treatment in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Ten persons have died to COVID-19. They were identified as 52-year-old Ratna Baboolall; 38-year-old Jermaine Ifill; 78-year-old Osa Collins; 59-year-old Shadrach Stoll; 38-year-old Deryck Jaisingh; 45-year-old Lennox Williams; 49-year-old visually-impaired Sydney Trellis; 77-year-old Colonel John Percy Leon Lewis and Bhaneshwar Ramdial.