A number of buildings, including the former Ocean View International Hotel, are being examined by the government to be dedicated facilities for persons diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo says.
Nagamootoo, Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF), made this disclosure yesterday while responding to questions during a virtual press conference.
The consideration is based on a suggestion made by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) earlier this week for the establishment of a specific COVID-19 hospital in light of the projected 20,000 cases of the disease in the country by early May.
“…We have looked at the proposal for a dedicated hospital and we have identified a building [in] the immediate vicinity of the city on the East Coast, the Ocean View. What used to be the Ocean View Hotel and what is now going on there [is] to make that into a dedicated hospital, dedicated facility for…isolation or quarantine or medical attention of persons who have been confirmed positive of the coronavirus disease,” Nagamootoo said.
Nagamootoo added that several other buildings, including one on High Street at the site of the former Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), the National Gymnasium and the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall are also being inspected to be potential COVID-19 facilities.
“…So yes, we have identified a particular building and we have also looked at some other buildings as well…a place in High Street, which used to be called the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Demerara. That building there was deemed to have been inhabitable for the purposes of a government ministry or something like that. So we have identified that an examination is being done to see if all of it or some section [can be utilised]; it’s a huge facility and also that may be in consideration too as a dedicated, specialised institution to deal with the [coronavirus],” Nagamootoo said.
“There are other buildings, other places which we are looking at, not excluding the [National] Gymnasium, we have some huge sports hall that could be converted if the need arise,” he added.
According to Nagamootoo, the government is looking to establish facilities for a minimum of 1,000 persons should the situation worsen in Guyana. The Ocean View Hotel building, he said, will have 300 beds.
During an interview with News Room last week, PAHO/WHO country representative Dr William Adu-Krow said that following a re-evaluation, the number of projected cases in Guyana could reach as much as 20,000 by May 5, 2020.
This is an astronomic increase from the projected 1,400 cases announced the previous week by Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence.
Adu-Krow had lamented that the country’s health system would not be able to handle so many sick persons.
“If (a) minimum 5% of them may need intensive care where we will put them,” he asked, adding that Guyana’s health care system is significantly understaffed.
The new number came after the PAHO/WHO and the ministry conducted a disease modeling using the basic reproduction number of COVID-19. This number has been established at 2.5 persons in 4.8 days.
This means that for each infected person, approximately 2.5 persons are further infected every 4.8 days. International modeling, which have used this number, have shown that one person can directly infect 406 persons within a month. If each of those 406 persons also infect a similar number there is likely to be an explosion in the number of cases of the disease.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle on Friday announced that as of Thursday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Guyana had increased from 19 to 23.
Gordon-Boyle had added that the number of deaths remained at four, while the number of persons tested up to then had increased from 75 to 83.
