A second case of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was today confirmed in Guyana, while the results of another suspected case is yet to be disclosed.
This is according to the Ministry of Public Health Public Relations Officer Terrence Esseboom, who told Stabroek News that the patient is the husband of Guyana’s first coronavirus victim, who died on Wednesday at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Karen Gordon-Boyle told Stabroek News that the husband along with another relative were tested earlier today after they began displaying symptoms linked to the disease.
President David Granger on Wednesday evening confirmed Guyana’s first case of COVID-19.
The woman, who travelled from New York and had underlying health conditions, died at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
“It is my sad duty to announce Guyana confirmed its first imported case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Georgetown on Wednesday 11th March 2020,” the president said in an address to the nation.
The person has been identified as a 52-year-old woman, who travelled from the United States before the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the state of New York. According to the statement by the president, the woman arrived in the country on March 5th. She admitted herself to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation on Tuesday afternoon at around 5pm and while she was there, she presented uncontrollable diabetic and hypertension conditions which saw her having to be resuscitated.
COVID-19 has been labeled as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).
