An 11-year-old girl remains in quarantine for COVID-19 after several positive tests but her family is hoping she could be discharged soon.
The child’s mother Roshanie Singh Baboolall, who has since tested negative for the virus is staying with her. It is unclear if the child is receiving counselling as this would be one of those cases where it would be needed.
The girl is among a number of the relatives of Guyana’s first reported COVID-19 case, Ratna Baboolall, who were tested for the virus. Ratna Baboolal passed away at the Georgetown Public Hospital on March 11th.
Roshanie Baboolall told Stabroek News yesterday that her daughter is doing much better and is awaiting the results for a test she did yesterday. Her daughter she said did another test on Saturday which came back negative yesterday. Two negative tests in a row is the usual benchmark for the discharge of COVID-19 patients. Prior to Saturday’s test, the girl was tested two Fridays ago but due to reported malfunctions at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory, the family didn’t receive the result of the test until this past Thursday which showed the child to be positive.
Roshanie said she was staying in the same room as her daughter on a bed across from her. She added that she is wearing a mask.
Meanwhile, Ratna’s son, Suraj, who also tested positive for COVID-19 but has since recovered questioned whether his mother was indeed the first positive case here. He cited the case of Jermaine Ifill who died on March 31st and said that it was unlikely that this man could have been infected through his mother and this likely means that the coronavirus had been present here before Ratna arrived in the country from New York.
Now that several relatives of Ratna have recovered, Suraj said he is surprised that with all the talk of recovered persons having a chance to donate plasma to persons still battling the virus, no one from the hospital or the Ministry of Public Health has reached out to them to do so. He added that he is more than interested in donating his plasma if given the opportunity.
The man also spoke on the conditions at the isolation facility where his relatives currently are noting that though persons are asked to stay in their quarters and to keep to themselves, it doesn’t make much difference at all when they’re all using the same two washroom facilities. Suraj went on to say that all patients are required to have their own toiletries (soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper) as that is not provided for them. He argued that the Government of Guyana would have received from the US government an amount of US$475,000 plus other funds to mitigate the spread of the virus and some of that should be spent on patients’ needs.
With Mother’s Day being yesterday, the man said it was a solemn day for the family. Ratna was cremated and her ashes were buried. The family visited her tomb yesterday. To date, Suraj said, the family has not received a medical report for her or results to prove that she tested positive for the virus.
