Region 3 ramps up enforcement of COVID-19 measures amid surge in cases

…recorded 165 deaths since start of pandemic

By Feona Morrison

Given the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths, the Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) COVID-19 Task Force will be joining forces with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to ramp up enforcement of the COVID-19 regulations.

This is according to the coordinator of the region’s COVID-19 Task Force, Halim Khan, who said that works will commence as early as today in light of the region recording over 100 positive cases per day along with several related deaths.
During a telephone interview with Guyana Times on Sunday, he noted that the pandemic has placed significant demands on the limited resources of the region’s health sector. This, he said, is compounded by the wilful flouting of the regulations.
According to him, there continue to be large gatherings at bars, birthday parties, private parties, and weddings even though such is prohibited by the gazetted order. He said that people are still reluctant to wear masks and sanitise.

Stellings
Khan explained that the region will do more to ensure the guidelines are enforced at the stellings. Thousands of persons use the Parika and Vreed-en-Hoop stellings daily and some of them are reluctant to wear masks and sanitise, he said.
As such, he disclosed that the region’s COVID-19 Task Force will have a meeting with water taxi operators today, to discuss among other things, systems to ensure that passengers follow these safety measures. Khan is of the view that Region Three is putting “everything in place” to curb the spread of the virus.
But, according to him, the problem lies at the other end, in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) where people are flouting the COVID-19 regulations. “They do not want to wear masks but we are trying our best to make this region safe. The only way we can try to make it safe is that we need cooperation from the citizens,” he added.
“We don’t want the Government to have much more medical bills. We want to see healthy people; we want to make Guyana safe. We have huge development in this region and if we have a lot of people getting sick, it is going to lead to other things. By putting all these enforcements in place…every little thing is going to count.”
He explained that there will be continued sanitisation of both stellings every Sunday “since a lot of persons would enter and exit”. He believes that by doing this and enforcing the guidelines, the cases in that region will drop tremendously.

“Don’t want to lock up”
Persons caught disobeying the measures are usually placed before the courts and are in most instances, made to pay fines ranging between $5000 and $16,000.
President Irfaan Ali had noted that these fines are inadequate, stating that he had asked the Attorney General to review the laws to see “how [we] can have amendments that can speak to the seriousness of what we’re dealing with.”
Region Three’s COVID-19 Task Force Coordinator, however, said, “We don’t want to lock up people, we don’t want to try to imprison anyone and let them spend more monies on fines. But we want every citizen to help us…”
He stressed that persons violating the guidelines will not be allowed to harm those who are already fully vaccinated and are taking all the required precautions. In this regard, he said that the Task Force will be clamping down on large gatherings at pool parties, private parties, weddings, and bars.
Moreover, the operations of several bars found operating in breach of the guidelines were previously suspended by the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF). Nevertheless, Khan is pleading with citizens to adhere to the measures.
“…our frontline workers, they are going to be exhausted because of your negligence. You want to go all over where you can get infected, and then want to make noise and say the Government is not doing its job. We are not going to be targeting anyone but if you disobey the rules, the enforcement is going to come and deal with it.”
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 hotspots in Region Three include Parika, Tuschen, La Parfaite Harmonie, and Pouderoyen.

Deaths, surge in cases
Guyana has recorded 1130 deaths since the pandemic began in March 2020. Khan disclosed that 165 of those deaths are from Region Three. Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, 91 health workers from Region Three have tested positive for the virus.
Statistics show that for the period December 15-29, 2021, Region Three’s recorded cases were from zero to the maximum of four on any given day. Overall, 25 persons tested positive in that period. However, Khan said cases began rising during the holiday season.
For the period January 13 to 22, 2022, there was a total of 1377 new cases – almost over 100 new cases every day. Further, he pointed out that the islands of Leguan and Wakenaam, which previously had no cases, are now registering cases.
“Our cases here [Saturday] was about 155 and that is not good. Every day we are having over 100 cases, and normally we used to have one, two, and some days zero.” As of Saturday, Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll was at 1130.
“Amongst those killed recently are three persons from Region Three – a 51-year-old man who died on January 21; a 60-year-old man who died on January 21; and a 67-year-old man who died on January 22,” Khan revealed.
There are currently over 2000 active cases in that region. Of the over 13,000 persons in home isolation, 2201 of them are from Region Three. Guyana has recorded over 56,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases of which almost 7500 are from Region Three.
Persons continue to be hospitalised in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. The updated COVID–19 Emergency Measures are in force until January 31, 2022.
The measures, among other things, emphasise the need for correct and consistent use of a face mask when leaving home, maintaining six feet physical distance from others, and the need for good hand hygiene.
Anyone displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, or needing additional information, is being asked to contact the COVID-19 Hotline: 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy.
The Guyana Police Force is urging all citizens to adhere to the COVID-19 regulations and to report all breaches to the COVID-19 Task Force hotlines on 626-6674, 624-3067, 624-2819, and toll-free (GTT) 0180.