Health Ministry tracks hundreds who mingled with relatives of dead Coronavirus victim

Hundreds of people may have exposed themselves to the deadly Coronavirus after mingling with relatives of Ratna Babolall, the woman who succumbed last Wednesday. The Ministry of Public Health is now saddled with the task of trying to track them down, while seeking to impose more stringent measures to ensure that individuals who are infected remain isolated.

Babolall had tested positive for the virus on Wednesday and by Saturday three more of relatives, her husband, son and another relative tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID 19). Officials attached to the Ministry of Public Health, (MoPH) has since revealed that steps have been taken to ensure that the confirmed cases are in full quarantine. According to the Health Ministry, a surveillance team is actively working with others who are said to have come into contact with the victims. These individuals are recommended to self isolation until they were deemed safe for public interaction again. However, Kaieteur News has learnt that despite the warning against public interactions, scores of people attended a wake held for the deceased woman at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara on Thursday. The publication understands that the wake was hosted by the woman’s husband and other relatives, all of whom were present and tested positive for the virus. This newspaper was told that residents, friends and extended family members attended the gathering. In a Facebook post, one woman said that she attended the wake “to investigate whether the claims of Coronavirus were true.”

In a lengthy post shared multiple times on social media, the woman said that the family members that the MoPH announced were in self isolation, “were very much present: at the wake, and had vehemently denied that Babolall’s death was a case of the COVID 19. Kaieteur News understands that the household, which comprises of eight adults and six children, were still carrying on with regular activities up until Saturday night, when an ambulance, with personnel dressed in body suits and masks, turned up at the premises.

Prior to that, persons were reportedly visiting the home regularly. “People were going and coming. They were going out shopping and doing everything as normal until last (Saturday) night, when an ambulance show up with the people in the masks. Since then, like less people going there but they are still at the house. There is still the little boy who goes to the shop for them regularly,” the source added. Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry has been working to track down persons who could have been exposed to contamination.

(Kaieteur News)