Additional kits to test for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are being procured by the Ministry of Public Health, Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle confirmed last night.
Gordon-Boyle said that they are seeking “a lot more” testing kits in order to better prepare the country’s response to fight against the respiratory illness.
On this note, she said that the testing kits are arriving in batches and some have already arrived here. It is unclear when the next batch would arrive.
The World Health Organisation has emphasised the importance of testing to be able to contain the spread of the disease but to date Guyana has tested only 110 persons thought is said to have around 1800 testing kits.
Guyana has officially recorded 29 cases of COVID-19, which includes four deaths. One test result was inconclusive. According to information available, persons who have been tested for the respiratory disease have increased from 83 to 110.
The four persons who died after testing positive for COVID-19 are 52-year-old Ratna Baboolall, 38-year-old Jermaine Ifill, 78-year-old Osa Collins and 59-year-old Shadrach Stoll. Baboolall, who was patient zero, had travelled from the United States to Guyana and died at the Georgetown Public Hospital on March 11.
Some 14 persons have been reported to be in institutional isolation and 34 persons in institutional quarantine while 157 persons are quarantined at home.
Additionally, the DCMO said that tests are also performed on persons who have died and exhibited symptoms of COVID-19. “Yes, samples are still collected from persons who…die but showed the symptoms prior to their deaths,” she said.
Many persons have criticised the health system for not being willing to test persons who have exhibited the symptoms of COVID-19.
COVID-19 causes respiratory illness, with symptoms including coughing, fever, and, in more severe cases, difficulty breathing. It was first recorded in Wuhan, China and has since spread across the globe, causing the World Health Organization (WHO) to label it a global pandemic.
In a bid to slow the spread of the disease, a one-month partial nationwide lockdown has been imposed by government.
The ministry has identified care facilities for persons diagnosed with the COVID-19 and is setting up more.
The move is based on a suggestion made by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/ WHO) last 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.
The Ocean View Hotel on the East Coast of Demerara, along with the building on High Street at the site of the former Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), the National Gymnasium and the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall are all being inspected to be potential COVID-19 facilities.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo said on Saturday during a virtual press conference that 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.
PAHO/WHO country representative Dr William Adu-Krow said last week that following a re-evaluation, the number of projected COVID-19 cases in Guyana could reach as much as 20,000 by May 5, 2020.
This number came after PAHO/WHO and the ministry conducted 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 has used this number, has 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.
