While calls are being amplified for more COVID-19 testing to be conducted among the population, only nine tests have been conducted within 24 hours. Already, the virus has claimed the lives of eight persons locally, and without any containment, there could be dire health impacts.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Karen Boyle
On Monday the Public Health Ministry revealed its latest statistics, which showed that only nine tests were conducted, raising the total number of tests to 464.
It is unclear how many new persons were tested but all were negative. As such, the confirmed cases remained at 74, with eight deaths. In two days, Guyana has detected no positive cases and some 390 cases have shown negative results.
Meanwhile, there are five persons in COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 24 in institutional quarantine and 51 in isolation.
Mobile units
On Monday the Ministry launched its mobile unit at the East La Penitence Health Centre as well as the community COVID-19 facilities at Herstelling on the East Bank of Demerara and Paradise on the East Coast of Demerara, providing services to persons along those corridors.
This was mapped out in consideration of the fact that the capital city is the epicentre of the virus, with some 55 per cent residing in Central Georgetown.
According to Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Boyle, anyone displaying the key signs and symptoms can make an inquiry where they would be screened or a sample will be collected.
Presently, they are looking at the demand to determine how long this service should last.
“It will depend on the demand. We are not certain as to how long we will be here for, but we will be here as long as there is a demand for the services and likewise, at this point, we are thinking about regular working hours, but there is a possibility if there is a high demand for it to be extended, that can also happen,” the DCMO relayed.
However, she noted that they will seek to visit other locations which are considered to be hotspots for the virus. Marketplaces and other high traffic areas have been linked to many of the persons who tested positive.
“I think I should also mention that being a mobile unit, we also have plans for the unit to go into other areas what we consider hotspots, where we consider had a few cases emanating from just to go and check and see what is going on in that facility and we are also thinking places like the markets, where we recognise from our data that a lot of the contacts of our cases would have traversed certain markets places.”
Dr Boyle added, “So, it also worth our while I think for us to go and check some market vendors because they would be interacting with the public and it is good for us to know how many or if they may be carrying or even symptomatic. We have some particular areas that we are interested in going and sampling to see what is going on.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 2,804,796 confirmed cases worldwide with 193,710 deaths. In the region of the Americas, the number of confirmed cases is 1,094,846 with 56,063 deaths.
