No COVID-19 cases from latest tests
-appeal continues for men to adopt precautionary measures
The Public Health Ministry yesterday said that no new cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID19) were recorded from its latest round of testing.
This was revealed on Friday afternoon during the ministry’s COVID-19 update, where Dr Ertenisa Hamilton revealed that 37 more tests had been administered.
Hamilton said the number of persons tested had increased to 1366, while the number of confirmed cases remained at 127. She noted that the ministry will be moving its mobile testing sites to Cornelia Ida on the West Coast of Demerara, and Diamond, on the East Bank of Demerara.
She said the number of persons who have recovered remains at 57, while 60 persons, who account for the number of active cases, remain in institutional isolation. Three persons remain in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, while the total number of deaths remain at 10.
During the update, Hamilton noted that at the time when the curfew measures were initially instituted, positive cases were only recorded in five of Guyana’s ten regions. However, since then she said that two more regions were added to the list and as a result the ministry remains concerned about the spread of the virus.
The director reiterated that the percentage of men with the virus in Guyana remains at 57%, with women accounting for the remainder. It is against this background that Senior Gender Affairs Officer at the Ministry of Social Protection Diego Alphonso urged men to practice the right measures and fight COVID-19 as he observed that “macho-ness” does not miraculously make men immune to the virus. “As a matter of fact, in some instances we, as men, are more vulnerable to contracting the virus because of the nature of what we are involved in daily,” Alphonso said.
Further he reiterated that wearing a mask properly, practicing physical distancing and regular hand washing do not make you any less of a man. Instead, he said, it demonstrates that men are responsible and are being role models to those observing them.