Rupununi villages awaiting testing for several days – SRDC

COVID-19 pandemic

…communities on full lockdown

The South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) has decided to lock down all 21 Indigenous communities within its remit, after continued challenges in advocating for mining to be removed as an essential service and local infections increasing.
In a statement, the representative body said this is the choice taken to protect communities from further spread of COVID-19, in light of five positive cases across three villages and lack of healthcare resources being allocated to the region.
Access to the village has been prohibited since July 15. This follows other protocols that were activated to prevent illegal entry of persons along the Brazil border into Guyana.
“The inadequate healthcare systems and supplies in our region leave our people extremely vulnerable to disease, particularly this novel coronavirus. Immediately following the outbreak, we blocked several illegal crossings along the Guyana-Brazil border, followed by conducting regular border monitoring. We have been monitoring entry and access into our villages and roads, and we are working with local security and health personnel to put in place proper measures,” the SRDC said.
According to the Council, they would have engaged public health officials along with written requests for mining to be removed from the gazetted list of essential services – to which all have proven futile. The advocation for medical supplies to the remote communities have also fallen on deaf ears, even as they remain vulnerable to the uncontrollable situation in neighbouring Brazil. The movement of miners to and from these communities enhances the possibility of spreading the virus.

No response
“To date, we have received little to no response to our concerns and pleas for assistance. Our greatest threat remains the vast open border the South Rupununi shares with Brazil. Indeed, our efforts have been stymied by the Government’s continued refusal to remove mining from its list of essential services and by its interventions on behalf of miners which have allowed them to continue to traverse our territory, threatening and challenging our gatekeepers.”
Alarmingly, these villages also indicated that it takes almost one week for sick patients to be tested, even after reporting symptoms associated with COVID-19. There is an additional waiting time to receive the results.
“We note with concern that after the announcement of the confirmed cases in our communities, it took more than 48 hours before patients were transported to the hospital in Lethem. We also note that the inadequate supply of testing kits for Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) only allows for persons with severe symptoms to be tested,” it was highlighted.
This failure to immediately test any patients reporting COVID-like symptoms, promptly return test results and immediately transfer confirmed COVID-19 patients to a hospital has heightened the risk of increased community transmission.
“Our leaders, despite the limited resources at their disposal, have worked diligently to protect our communities by encouraging villages to abide by measures. However, as is the case elsewhere, there are a few selfish individuals that have greatly compromised our villages by taking advantage of the open border and using illegal border crossings.”
For now, arrangements were made with Village Councils to have systems in place to facilitate the delivery of food and other essential items to all communities along with attempts to facilitate essential travel into the Marudi mines. For the South Rupununi villages, all measures including the 6 pm to 6 am curfew will remain in place until further notice. (P12)