Chief Medical Officer warns of ‘almost runaway’ COVID-19 situation
-no new case reported
Up to yesterday, no new case of COVID-19 was recorded in Guyana, with only one new test conducted between May 26 and 27 and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Shamdeo Persaud has warned of an “almost runaway” situation here.
During the Ministry’s live COVID-19 daily update Persaud stated that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Guyana remains at 139. He added that the number of persons tested to date has increased by one and therefore is up from 1,499 to 1,500.
Further it was noted that five more persons have recovered from the disease which brings the total recovered to 67. Two persons remain in the COVID-19 intensive care unit while there are 61 persons in institutional isolation which accounts for the number of active cases at this time. The number of deaths as a result of the virus remains at 11 and 8 persons are currently in institutional quarantine.
Meanwhile Persaud pointed out that Guyana cannot control the situation in bordering countries, and therefore the ministry remains concerned about the vulnerability of its border communities and the possibilities of having a large number of imported cases and persons contracting the virus in those regions.
According to the CMO, the Public Health Ministry is currently placing more focus on the hinterland regions as they are now more vulnerable than ever. There are concerns about neighbouring Brazil which has reported over 600 deaths during the last 24 hours.
The CMO also stated the ministry continues to observe the nonchalance of Guyanese as it relates to adhering to the emergency public health measures put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
“To complicate issues, we continue to witness the downright nonchalance of our residents who are intent on carrying on with their laissez-faire lifestyles, seemingly unappreciative of the selfless efforts of our frontline workers who are risking their lives for our protection. Is this callous attitude going to persist until Guyana is swarmed with a high number of deaths?
“One death is already too many and we have eleven. Please note that our sister CARICOM countries have begun to see a decline in their numbers, yet we have an almost runaway situation – over the past four days, twelve new cases were confirmed.
“Our efforts in limiting the spread of this disease are dependent on all of us, if we do not want to end up as the PAHO model indicated with an exponential rise in positive cases and deaths that will overwhelm our health system”, he stated.
Dr Chrissundra Abdul, Regional Health Officer (RHO) of Region Eight, stated during the update that her region like some others began preparations for COVID-19 in February, before Guyana even recorded its first case of the coronavirus disease. She added that a regional task force was formed and that they meet regularly. Further, Abdul stated that they have taken a number of measures to guard against the spread of the virus within the region. She informed that quarantine and isolation facilities have been set up and work is currently being done to strengthen monitoring at the borders. The RHO disclosed that so far they have had 4 suspected cases resulting in over 40 persons being quarantined.