The Public Health Ministry yesterday said there were no new cases of COVID-19 recorded from the latest batch of testing done.
Giving the ministry’s daily COVID-19 update, which was broadcast on the ministry’s Facebook page, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud said that the number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Guyana remained at 93, even as 22 more persons were tested for the disease, bringing the number of persons tested up to 736.
It was disclosed that the number of persons recovered this far has increased to 34, while the number of deaths remain the same. So far, ten deaths have been recorded. The ministry has provided no information on the 10th death. Guy-ana’s fatality rate is at 10.8%, which Persaud noted is more than double the World Health Organi-zation’s global rate, which is 4%.
The number of persons in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) remains at three, while six persons are in Institutional Quarantine and 49 in institutional isolation.
Persaud said that of the positive cases recorded so far, children account for 5.4%, with adults being 82% and elderly persons 12.6%. “Even though 52% of our confirmed cases were males, they account for 80% of COVID-19 deaths in Guyana,” he further noted.
Persaud again urged persons to adhere to the guidelines in place in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country and in particularly he appealed to men, stating that they put themselves at an unnecessary risk and jeopardize the lives and livelihoods of their families by not complying with safety measures. Further-more, the Chief Medical Officer appealed to persons to come forward if they know that they have been in contact with a positive case or they are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19.
“As I said yesterday, testing is critical if we are to uncover the asymptomatic cases and to provide them with the necessary screening and assist in reducing the number of illnesses and deaths due to the severe form of the disease,” Persaud said.
Globally, he noted, many healthy younger persons who become infected with COVID-19 do not display the usual symptoms and those persons can transmit the disease to the vulnerable persons in society when they don’t practise control measures, such as hand hygiene. As a result, he said that the health authorities must detect those persons who are asymptomatic in the communities and provide medical care.
Subsequent to giving the regional report, he mentioned that the United States and Brazil occupy the first and second spots, respectively, with the number of positive cases. At the time of the update, he said that Brazil had recorded 107,780 cases, with 7,321 deaths, and he said therefore the bordering regions with Brazil are at an additional risk for contracting COVID-19. “So all residents, especially of Region Nine, are asked to be extremely vigilant and comply with all control measures,” Persaud added.
