Region 4 pensioner is Guyana’s 207th COVID-19 death

…as bar owners, workers arrested for breaching curfew

Another person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Guyana died on Saturday, the Health Ministry said.
This now takes the total number of deaths from the pandemic to 207.
The latest fatality is a 71-year-old male from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) who died while receiving care at a medical facility.
With this new fatality, Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll has gone up by six over the past week. Last Sunday, two females – a 64-year-old from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and a 69-year-old from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) – died.
Then a 76-year-old male from Region 10 died on Monday, while a 59-year-old male from the Demerara-Mahaica region died the following day. On Wednesday, a 39-year-old female from Region 10 also died while receiving care at a medical facility.

New cases
Meanwhile, the Ministry also reported on Saturday that 52 more persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus from some 793 tests conducted in the last 24 hours.
According to the updated COVID-19 dashboard, the total number of confirmed cases in the country is now 9121.
However, only 628 of these are currently active cases. This includes five patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the other 623 persons in isolation, that is, 32 in institutional isolation and the remaining 591 in home isolation.
There are also another eight persons in institutional quarantine.
Meanwhile, the number of persons who have recovered from the life-threatening virus has gone up to 8287 – 22 more recoveries than the figure that was reported the previous day.
To date, Guyana has tested some 74,971 persons for the novel coronavirus.
Of the 52 new COVID-19 cases recorded on Saturday, one was detected in Region One (Barima-Waini); eight in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 28 cases in the Demerara-Mahaica region; five in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); one case in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); four in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and another one in Region 10.
The figures remained the same in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).
Health authorities are reminding all Guyanese to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No 15), which was extended for this month and will be in effect until March 31, 2021.
Among these measures is the 22:30h (10 pm) to 04:00h (4 am) national curfew. Restaurants and places of worship continue to operate at 40 per cent capacity. Gyms are to operate at 50 per cent capacity while sporting events are only permitted with approval from the Health Minister.

Breaching curfew
Back in January, authorities had lifted the restrictions for bars, which are now allowed to be open up to 21:30h (09:30 pm). However, there have been complaints that several of these remain open past that curfew time.

As such, law enforcement officers swooped down on several bars and night clubs in Georgetown that were in breach of the curfew.
The exercise was carried out between 22:00h on Friday and 03:30h on Saturday by ranks from the National COVID Task Force, Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force in Regional Division 4A (Georgetown).
During this operation, several persons were detained for breaching the curfew.
At the Sleep-In Bar & Casino on Church Street, owner Clifton Bacchus and two bartenders were taken into custody along with 10 Chinese nationals including two females who were in the casino.
The owner of Club Altitude on Sandy Babb Street Kitty, Meer Rahaman, along with 18 patrons – 10 males and eight females – were also detained.
Additionally, Mark Alleyne, the manager at Kairos Bar on Charlotte Street, was also arrested.
Meanwhile, bartender Delon Moffett and his assistant Akeem Carmichael from Club Privilege on Main Street were taken into custody.
The Police said they were all placed on cash bail pending their court appearances. It was noted too that there was “no incident” during this operation.
Only Tuesday, three managers of the three bars at the Giftland Mall were charged for breaching the COVID-19 regulations.
The trio was arrested on March 6, 2021, but Giftland Mall owner Roy Beepat had accused the Police Force of targeting and harassing the establishment. He had claimed that other nightspots in Georgetown were being allowed to remain open way past the curfew time.
However, Prime Minister Mark Phillips, who heads the National COVID TaskForce, has reassured that no one is exempted or above the law when it comes to enforcing the restrictions.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as of Saturday, some 118,754,336 confirmed cases were reported globally along with 2,634,370 deaths. (G8)