Infectious COVID-19 variant likely already in Guyana – Dr Anthony

– active cases jump from about 800 to 1300 in a week

Infections of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) are taking a climb again, reflected in recent figures which were released by the Health Ministry.
In Tuesday’s COVID-19 update, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony indicated that this trend could be linked to the circulation of a more infectious variant in the country.

Statistics show that there are over 1300 active cases of the disease in Guyana, a sharp jump from just 800 last week. While no genomic sequencing has been conducted to definitively indicate the presence of a more infectious variant, he indicated that the figures point in this direction.
“As of last week, our numbers were relatively low; meaning that it dropped to about 800 or so. Then we started seeing an increase in those numbers, in new cases, and that is very instructive. It’s telling us that we have a more infectious variant that is now in Guyana and we all know that in many countries around the world, that the Delta variant is becoming the dominant variant.”
He reminded that the Delta variant, which is twice as contagious as other strains, is already circulating in a majority of countries around the world including Guyana’s neighbour, Brazil. This is causing more infections, hospitalisations and deaths; especially for the unvaccinated population.
“Delta is now in more than 140 countries and as that variant becomes the dominant strain that is circulating in the country, we’ll see that it is going to cause more infections and deaths. What we have seen in other countries is that among the unvaccinated people, we are going to see more cases among them, both infection, hospitalisation and deaths.”
Because of the evolution of the virus, the health official pointed out that anybody who is unvaccinated will get infected.
There are currently over 110 vaccination sites across the country, where COVID-19 shots can be obtained. Dr Anthony urged persons to consider this opportunity and not fall prey to the unsubstantiated myths and rumours that are circulating in the public domain and social media.
“You can start the process by getting one of the first dose of a vaccine. We have the AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sputnik V, some J and J; and this is available to anyone. There is no rational reason why you should be without a vaccine…Many of those persons who are creating the confusion have already received their vaccines. They’re not representing your interest. They’re representing their own selfish whatever it is that they’re trying to do. We shouldn’t be caught up in that,” he urged Guyanese.
Since the virus was first detected in the Wuhan province of China, there have been several mutations. From the first-discovered Alpha strain in the United Kingdom last year, authorities have moved to trace the Beta and Gamma variants. However, the Delta variant has been dominant in many countries, including the US and UK. It has caused a resurgence of the infections in Portugal and current spikes in Russia.
The Delta variant, which was first detected in India, is said to be the most contagious yet as authorities continue to track the spread which it has caused. In fact, the transmissibility is said to be twice higher than the UK’s Alpha variant.