Social distancing, isolation must be taken seriously – PAHO

COVID-19

By Shemar Allen

The fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is intensifying around the world and in an effort to contain the spread of the deadly virus, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) representative, Dr William Adu-Krow is recommending that social distancing and isolation be taken seriously.

This comes in light of Guyana receiving its first imported case of the COVID-19 over two weeks ago when 52-year-old Ratna Baboolall travelled from New York to Guyana on March 5. The woman showed signs of pneumonia and was said to be diabetic as well.
It was reported that she visited a private medical institution where she was suspected of having the virus, owing to her symptoms, and was referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she died a few days later.
Posthumous tests revealed she was positive for COVID-19 which caused an immediate panic in the health care system. Further tests have revealed that her husband, child and a relative are all carriers of the virus.
Initially, the Public Health Ministry placed the family on self-isolation. However, there were reports of the family allegedly holding a wake for Baboolall, which resulted in a number of persons coming into contact with the infected persons.
As such, Dr Adu-Krow stated that based on statistics coming out of China, it showed that if the country had started social distancing three weeks before they did – the transmission of the virus could have been reduced by 93 per cent. As such, he made a special call for social distancing in Guyana to start now.
“I would like to share some research which came from China done by the European Union – they said if China had started social distancing one week before they did, they would have reduced the transmission by 66 per cent.”
He further added that “If they had started it two weeks before, they would have reduced the transmission by 86 per cent, if they had started it three weeks before, they would have reduced the transmission by 93 per cent. The time is now, we need to put the measures in place. We need to start the social distancing now,” Adu-Krow explained.

Mandatory quarantine/isolation consequences
The MoPH last week decided to impose a mandatory quarantine on those who are tested positive for the virus, as the Ministry established four sites for isolation.
These sites have been facilitated to deal with persons of three categories – suspected cases, probable cases, and confirmed cases. The suspect category is for persons who have been exposed in one way or the other to the virus.
But the PAHO representative is contending that “the 80 per cent that have moderate condition should have home isolation or self-quarantine and the 10-20 per cent that have severe may be admitted to the hospital depending on the case but otherwise strict home isolation, the 5-10 per cent that is critical, definitely no hospital.”
Dr Adu-Krow is also of the belief that persons who do not adhere to strict self-isolation must be institutionally isolated.
“I think that persons who do not adhere to strict self-isolation must be institutionally isolated – that is the only way we are going to control. China took drastic measures – now they were running in the thousands when all of the rest of the world had only a few cases at a time. Between 10 am yesterday (Tuesday) and 10 am (Wednesday) China increase their number by 24 and the whole of the world in thousands. If they are saying eight out of that 24 is imported, we need to take isolation seriously,” Dr Adu-Krow posited.
In addition, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Shamdeo Persaud also recognised the fact that there are now “more deaths outside of China” where the virus originated from.
The USA, Canada, Brazil, and Chile are the hardest hit in that order in the region of the Americas. In descending order in the Caribbean, French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and St Bartholomew make up countries that have so far recorded COVID-19 patients.
Dr Persaud stated that port surveillance; home and facilities isolation; case finding and early detection and contact tracing and follow-ups are strategies the Ministry has placed to interpose person to person transmission.
Around the list of strategies to slow down the spread of the virus is closing borders, suspension of conveyance, which is preventing airlines, vessels, and vehicles from entering the country, social distancing and limiting private and public gatherings.
The CMO advised that where there are clusters of cases and local transmission there should be public health policies including control measures, Government orders, and quarantine. He also said there must also be “coordination and collaboration on technical guidance and support for preparedness and response for fragile and vulnerable populations.

Guyana’s readiness
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released an assessment in which it ranks Guyana among the few countries in the region least prepared to deal with the effects of the coronavirus epidemic, particularly the negative effects it will have on the economy and tourism.
In the assessment, the IMF rated countries in the Americas from red (least prepared) to green (most prepared). Countries like the United States and Canada were in the green zone. However, Guyana, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras are not so lucky.
COVID-19 was first discovered in 2019 in Wuhan City, China, with 335,377 confirmed cases of the virus and 14,611 deaths.
Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.
Recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs, avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.
Additionally, MoPH advises that the only facility in Guyana that is capable of testing for COVID-19 is the National Reference Lab operated by the Ministry.
Local health authorities have advised that if anyone is experiencing symptoms of coronavirus, they should contact the hotline on 227-4986 ext 215 or 624-3067 and a team would be sent to their location.