Palms Geriatric Home staff quarantined

…as Guyana’s 10th COVID-19 fatality lived at facility

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that persons with pre-existing conditions and the elderly are more at risk when it comes to contracting the novel coronavirus and thus far, five of Guyana’s 10 COVID-19 fatalities fall in the elderly category.
The latest COVID-19 death in Guyana is Bhaneshwar Ramdial. However, the elderly Ramdial may have unknowingly put numerous other seniors at risk, since he was a resident at the Palms Geriatric Home.
The elderly man was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital on May 1 after he was suspected of having the virus. It was reported that he presented with all of the symptoms and because of his age and other factors, those symptoms became severe. He would die just a few hours after he was admitted a patient at the hospital,
A test conducted posthumously revealed that the elderly Ramdial was positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, the Public Health Ministry did not make the death public until May 5 – four days after.
The man’s death has raised many questions given that the Home caters for a number of senior residents, all of whom have some form of pre-existing conditions namely diabetes, cholesterol and hypertension among others. There are currently 194 residents in the Palms.

Staff, residents in quarantine
It is believed that some of the residents and staff members may have contracted the disease. This has caused the administrators of the Palms Geriatric Home to place a number of staff and residents under quarantine.
The Home also improved its sanitisation protocols.
While Guyana’s COVID-19 cases have not increased in two days, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud stated that there were alarming statistics, particularly in the number of male deaths recorded.
Ten persons have since lost their lives to COVID-19. The first virus-related death was confirmed after 52-year-old Ratna Baboolall of Good Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD) died on March 11. The woman travelled from New York, where it is believed that she contracted the virus, to Guyana.
After posthumous tests confirmed that Baboolall was carrying the virus, other family members were quarantined and tested, adding to the country’s positive statistics.
Also among the dead are 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 and 77-year-old Colonel John Percy Leon Lewis.