Health Minister to boost COVID-19 testing response

…CDC hands over essential items to MoH

The newly-elected Government is now working to rapidly assess the needs of the Health Ministry, after taking up office at a time when cases of COVID-19 are rampantly increasing.

Moments after he was conferred with the instruments of Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Wednesday addressed the challenges as they relate to the country’s testing ability, especially in Regions Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).
He acknowledged that the National Reference Laboratory in Georgetown would take more than a week to return a diagnosis, since it is overwhelmed with samples from across the length and breadth of the nation. This puts the country at a disadvantage, and creates room for a larger spread, he contends.
“When (the samples) come to Georgetown, the capacity at the lab is limited. In the interior, the turnaround time to know if someone is positive is a week to nine days, and that is certainly – in this pandemic – not good enough. By the time you make that diagnosis, that positive person may have gone somewhere and be in contact with a lot of other people. That is one of the things that have to be changed right now,” Dr Anthony related.

The Minister also related that the Laboratory is working with old medical equipment, which takes a longer time for samples to be processed. As such, they are seeking to completely revamp these operations to meet the needs of the country. This would allow for more tests to be done on a daily basis.
“Our capacity to test has been limited to test because, at the National Reference Lab, we have some very old machines…While there is nothing wrong with the machines, it is the time that it takes and the way it is…You have modern machines that are available that can do close to 96 tests in an hour. So, one of the things that we’re looking at is how can we build the capacity of the National Reference Laboratory. We want to build that to at least 300 tests in 24 hours. With that kind of testing capacity, we will be able to test all those persons who need to be tested.”
They are also in talks with private medical centres, to assist with sample-testing. This will further enhance the number of processed tests and highly impact the COVID-19 response.
“We have also spoken to all the hospitals, and we’ll be working with them. One of the partnerships is to give them some of the kits that the Ministry has, so that they can also test people. I’m hoping in the private sector we can lift their testing capabilities to about 200 tests per day,” the Health Minister posited.
Meanwhile, the Civil Defence Commission on Wednesday handed over a large quantity of essential medical supplies to the Health Ministry – a much-needed approach that has been requested by health officials across the country.
Director General of the CDC, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, handed over the items, which included 5,730 N95 masks, 316,600 surgical masks, 46,250 rapid test COVID-19 kits, 200 overalls and 5,000 gloves.
The supplies were donated through a collaborative arrangement with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the World Health Organisation (WHO), Jack Ma Foundation, and the United Arab Emirates.
Guyana is one of 14 Caribbean territories to receive these supplies – which had arrived just a few hours prior at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport on a special cargo flight.
The Director General expressed gratitude for the timely donation, since the CDC has been working over the years to establish a good relationship with local and international partners.
Director of the Materials Management Unit of the Health Ministry, Cecil Jacques, said the items will greatly assist in the protection of local front-line health workers.
“We have seen two doctors so far being tested positive, and we would love to assure those health professionals that, with these COVID supplies, there are adequate amounts throughout the duration of their care for those who are at risk,” he said.
Just days ago, newly appointed Head of State Dr Irfaan Ali had announced that the country will be benefitting from a donation of medical supplies which will assist in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).