A battery of tests to identify the cause of the flu-like symptoms which have left seven manganese miners hospitalised and one dead are being done while a National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) has been activated to coordinate the response.
The men were scheduled to be transferred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital in Region Three yesterday to be placed in isolated care. Meanwhile, Director-General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig activated a NEOC to bring all the key stakeholders together to ensure there is a Common Operating Picture, the Department of Public Information (DPI) announced yesterday.
On Saturday morning, seven Chinese nationals who worked at the Guyana Manganese Inc (GMI), a subsidiary of the Bosai Group, were medevacked from Matthews Ridge in Region One to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) following the death of a co-worker who displayed similar symptoms. The eight men were earlier admitted to the Pakera District Hospital, Region One with fever, headaches, joint pain, mild shortness of breath, unstable vital signs and moderate to severe respiratory syndrome.