-110 cases recorded for Regions 1 and 7 since June 12

Five new cases of the novel coronavirus were recorded in Guyana on Wednesday with Regions One and Seven recording 110 cases since June 12 according to the Deputy Chief Medical Officer.

During the Ministry of Public Health’s COVID-19 daily update it was announced that five new cases were recorded, increasing Guyana’s total positive cases to 313 as 39 new tests were conducted. The total number of persons tested so far in the country now stands at 3,418. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Karen GordonBoyle stated that some 50% of Guyana’s total cases have recovered accounting for 156 persons so far.

There are currently 139 active cases which are currently in institutional isolation and 10 persons are in institutional quarantine with 5 persons remaining in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Dr Gordon-Boyle presented figures on the trends with the rise in cases in Guyana, specifically in Regions One, Four and Seven from March 11 to July 12. In Region Four from March to May, 100 cases were recorded while “successful flattening of the curve” occurred during the month of June with just four cases being recorded, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer informed. However, the cases increased and have since continued increasing.

In Region One, she noted that the first reported case occurred on April 7 and remained the same up until May 19.

Subsequently a slow rise in cases took place with 11 cases until June 15. “After which the steep incline, where 80 cases have been recorded from June 15 to July 12” she added.

Also in Region Seven there has been a steady increase in cases since its reported index case on May 13 and 44 cases have been recorded within the space of two months. “I have chosen to make this comparison to emphasise the challenge of contact tracing in the hinterland where often there are no street names or lot numbers, finding contacts to have them quarantined becomes a particular challenge and hence the exponential increase in cases in these regions,” Dr. Gordon-Boyle lamented.

She added that in Regions One and Seven combined, since June 12, there has been 110 cases recorded which she noted is six cases less than the total number of cases recorded in Region Four over the four month period. With that she mentioned that Region One has the highest per capita infection rate which is closely followed by Region Seven.

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer urged children, more specifically those sitting the ongoing CSEC and CAPE examinations to wear their face masks, practice social distancing and other measures. According to statistics from March 11 to July 12, a total of 31 children have been infected with the disease accounting for a total of 10% of the total cases recorded in that period.