Region 6 Chairman reiterates call for Police to enforce COVID-19 measures

Chairman of Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), David Armogan, has reiterated calls for the Guyana Police Force to enforce the National COVID-19 Measures.
On Thursday, Regional Health Officer Dr Vishalya Sharma related that COVID cases are on the rise in Region Six, with quite a number being in New Amsterdam. Armogan expressed concern over the rising number of cases in the region, while pointing out that there may be even more persons who may have contracted the virus, since everyone has not been tested. He said regional authorities are currently trying to increase testing in the region.

“One of the big problems in the region is that of people (not) complying with the COVID-19 guidelines, and also we have difficulty still with people not wanting to see the vaccine. The vaccine is perhaps the safest way out of this pandemic,” Armogan said.
He added that the first solution to the pandemic is for persons to get vaccinated, and, as such, he called on persons to spread the word that the vaccine is very important, and, more so, it is offered free by the Government.
“There are some people who are hesitant to take the vaccine for whatever reasons. If you have medical conditions, you would need to see a doctor before you take the vaccine; but there are still people, even though they receive the vaccine, they can still contract COVID-19. That is one of the other problems, because they might show little symptoms but are walking around other people who are unvaccinated. So, even though you are vaccinated, as we want you to be, we also want you to adhere to the COVID-19 measures,” Armogan said.
His comments came after Councillor Colin Moore pointed out that even Regional Councillors are not adhering to the measures. Moore noted that one Regional Councillor had recently hosted an event which scores of people had attended. This, he said, was unacceptable. At the same time, Moore called out leaders for breaching the guidelines.
While noting the effectiveness of the proper use of a face mask, Armogan lamented that many persons are not using face masks.
“…especially when they go to the marketplaces. even the vendors themselves are not wearing face masks. That is something we have to get the Police to enforce,” he said.
According to Armogan, the enforcement aspect of the guidelines and measures must come from the Police. “This is a call for the Police within the region to become more active in terms of enforcement of all of these measures,” Armogan said.
He also called on persons hosting events that would attract huge crowds to desist from so doing.