Record-breaking 1016 COVID cases detected in 24 hours

– as another unvaccinated person dies

The rapid surge in COVID-19 cases continues in Guyana, with another record-breaking number of infections detected within a 24-hour period, taking active cases in the country to over 5000.
The Health Ministry reported on Saturday that a whopping 1016 new cases were recorded which now takes the total number of confirmed cases in Guyana to 44,245 of which a staggering 5252 are currently active.
These include four patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the remaining 5248 persons are in isolation, that is, 96 in institutional isolation and the remaining 5152 in home isolation.
Another 16 persons are also in institutional quarantine, according to the dashboard.
Meanwhile, only one person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus has died within that 24-hour period. This latest fatality is a 46-year-old male from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), who was unvaccinated and died on Friday.
Consequently, the total number of deaths from the pandemic in Guyana has gone up to 1067, while the COVID-19 death toll for the year thus far is 12.
On the other hand, some 37,930 persons have recovered from the life-threatening disease to date – 35 more recoveries than the figure reported the previous day.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, approximately 445,651 persons have been tested so far and of this, some 20,688 males and 23,557 females were found to be positive.
Of the 1016 new cases reported on Saturday, three were from Region One (Barima-Waini); 43 cases from Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); 205 from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); a whopping 566 cases from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); another 43 from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 45 cases from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); 47 more from Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni); one case from Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni); 32 from Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo); and the remaining 31 cases from the Upper Demerara-Berbice region.
Health authorities have attributed the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks to the Omicron variant, which is highly transmissible.
In fact, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Friday disclosed that the younger age groups account for a majority of the new COVID-19 infections that are being detected. This includes the 25 to 44 age cohort.
Nevertheless, Dr Frank Anthony has urged persons who have been infected to stay isolated in order to curb the spread of the virus.
“Most of these persons who have tested positive, they are mildly symptomatic because you see from hospitalisation numbers, not a lot of these persons are in hospitals but rather, they should be in isolation… [Infected] people must stay home and don’t be in contact with others because if they are and they are not wearing masks and taking precautions then they would be able to spread the virus to other people,” the Minister cautioned.
Meanwhile, persons are also encouraged to get vaccinated, and for those who are qualified to get their booster shots, in order to add a layer of protection against the virus.
Recent figures show that over 413,300 adults have received a first dose, while more than 298,900 of them are fully vaccinated with both doses.
With regards to the adolescent age group, that is, 12 to 17, over 30,800 have received a first dose and of that amount, in excess of 21,900 are fully immunised.
To date, more than 15,300 booster doses have been administered.
But as more people continue to get vaccinated, authorities are urging the public to continue observing all COVID-19 preventative measures, particularly masking in public, social distancing and frequent hand washing and sanitising.
The measures also include vaccination requirements to access any public building such as restaurants, places of worship, schools as well as Government buildings. There is also a midnight to 04:00h curfew in place.