Only a matter of time before Omicron reaches Guyana – Health Minister

With the Omicron variant already detected in some 67 countries, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Tuesday contended that it is only a matter of time before it reaches Guyana and, therefore, urged persons to take all precautions to protect themselves.
Speaking on the daily COVID-19 update, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony said the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently made the announcement that the variant is already present in many countries.
He added that with constant travelling, it makes it even easier for the virus to get here.
“…people are travelling, people are moving around and therefore we have to be attentive. For most countries, it’s going to be difficult to prevent Omicron from coming to your country, it’s just a matter of when,” he said.
Giving more details on the new variant, the Health Minister said that with the high rate of transmission, scientists predict that the Omicron variant will be the dominant variant worldwide.
“We have to start preparing, we have to start taking the precautions. Christmas is upon us and I know a lot of people want to go shopping and socialising and unfortunately, if they do that and they are exposed to people with whether it’s Delta or Omicron or whatever variant there is circulating, they are going to spread it and when people socialise especially if they are drinking, they obviously are not wearing masks and they will be in close proximity to each other and these are ideal conditions for spread,” he added.
According to scientists, the Omicron variant is more transmissible, and the cases are doubling every two to three days. They have also estimated that there is a three-fold higher transmission than the Delta variant. Another characteristic of the Omicron variant is that even with two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine persons can still be affected.
During the update, Dr Anthony further noted that the possibility exists of reinfection for persons who already had the disease and the possibility is three to eight times more than the Delta variant.
Speaking on the severity of the disease, he said that those persons who are vaccinated usually experience milder forms of the disease.
“Persons who would have had two doses of vaccine, they have shown a reduced efficacy in fighting the Omicron variant, so what is being recommended in many countries across the world, those countries who would have completed their two-dose vaccination, is for those persons to come and get a booster dose, because with the booster dose, your antibody levels go up and you are more prepared to fight this variant,” Dr Anthony said.
He reminded that persons 18 years and older are eligible for the booster shots locally.
To protect yourself from the new variant, the Minister said observing the protocols that are already in place will guarantee protection.
“These masks, they’re specially designed, in the case of an N95 they have five layers, in the case of a surgical or a procedural mask they have like three layers, so it helps to filter out viral particles,” he said.
So far, no cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in Guyana.
To date the country has recorded 50 new cases of the COVID-19 virus, taking the total positives recorded to date to 38,618.
An 18-year-old unvaccinated lad from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) is the most recent COVID-19 death, taking the country’s death toll to 1024. (G9)