The Georgetown Public Hospital Corpora-tion (GPHC) is currently treating seven Chinese nationals, who were medevacked from Matthews Ridge, in Region One, with flu-like symptoms following the death of another worker who displayed similar indicators early yesterday morning.
The eight men, employees of the Guyana Manganese Inc., a subsidiary of the Bosai Group, were admitted to the Pakera District Hospital in Region One with fever, headaches, joint pain, mild shortness of breath, unstable vital signs and moderate to severe respiratory syndrome.
“I was informed that eight persons took ill at Guyana Manganese mines in Matthews Ridge and taken to Pakera Hospital,” Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley told this newspaper, before adding that he was not aware of any diagnosis or the conditions under which they became ill.
After the men were brought to George-town yesterday afternoon, the Department of Public Information (DPI) announced that Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, and other health officials were investigating cases with H1N1 symptoms and would provide a detailed report shortly.
Up to press time last night, no report had been provided and Persaud could not be reached by phone.
Sources in the region told Sunday Stabroek that four of the men were admitted on Thursday while another three were admitted on Friday. It is unclear when the man who died was admitted at the Pakera hospital.
Following the death of one of the miners, who were reportedly working in a cave when they began displaying symptoms, an emergency medevac was initiated at 7 am to transport the remaining patients to the GPHC. The medevac was accompanied by a response team from GPHC to assist in stabilising the patients.
Director of Regional Health Services Dr. Kay Shako, told Stabroek News that while the illness has not been identified, she could confirm that the surviving patients are currently at GPHC undergoing tests.
“Nothing is confirmed as yet but we know they took ill at the mines and displayed flu-like symptoms. We are still investigating,” she explained.
This newspaper has been reliably informed that the men arrived at GPHC just after 2 pm yesterday, and were placed in a “special place,” as all hospital infection control and quarantine procedures would have been activated.
Sunday Stabroek was told that the patients are communicating and that samples for testing were taken from them.
Additionally, the Regional Health Office in Region One has activated an emergency response to investigate the situation. Two physicians, one environmental health assistant and a Guyana Water Inc. supervisor have been deployed to investigate the possible cause of the illness.
According to the Bosai Group’s website, its wholly-owned subsidiary, Guyana Manganese Inc, has prospecting permits covering an area of 45,729 acres in the Matthews Ridge area in the North West following their acquisition from Reunion Gold Corporation.
It says after being set up, the company then started the design and construction of mines, ports and an export haulage system. The construction work is scheduled to be completed in late 2019, it further said, while projecting that the operation of the mine will catch up soon.
“With an annual mining capacity of 2.5 million tonnes, an annual output of 600,000 tonnes of manganese concentrate, an average MnO content of 38% (39% of lump ores and 37% of fine ores), a SiO2 content of 20% – 25%, a phosphorus content of less than 0.1%, and together with very few impurities, the products will be an ideal raw material for ferroalloy production,” it adds, while noting that the manganese mine has a proven reserves of nearly 30 million tonnes. “Its mining life is designed to last for 12 years, and the mining method applied will be open-pit mining,” it states while also noting that the venture is expected to create at least 700 jobs directly and indirectly in local communities in Guyana.
On Friday, the DPI reported that to date 113 Guyanese have already been employ-ed with Guyana Manganese Incorporated.
The information was culled during a visit to the operation on the same day by Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman and Minister of Public Affairs Dawn Hastings-Williams.
According to the report, at the site, Trotman said in spite of delays, due in part to land slippage and environmental clearance, he was happy with the employment figures and prospects of the company. “We intend to restart the manganese operations shortly, as you can see work is ongoing,” he was quoted as saying.
The report added that Trotman would soon meet with the company’s management about its actual startup date. “We intend, as government, to work with them to regain some ground,” he said.
