A man who tested positive in Lethem for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was yesterday caught in Brazil after he escaped from an isolation facility and crossed the border, raising concerns about the dangers of continued illegal travelling between the two countries despite the closure of the Guyana/Brazil border.
The patient has been identified as Hamlett Da Silva by Regional Executive Officer of Region Nine Carl Parker, who told Stabroek News yesterday that the decision to reveal the patient’s name is due to the fact that officials do not know how many persons have been exposed to him during the time he was not hospitalised.
Regional Health Officer Dr. Naail Uthman confirmed that a team from the hospital is doing everything it can to contact the persons who had been in contact with Da Silva before he was diagnosed with the respiratory disease which has claimed 10 lives here and sickened dozens of others.
Persons who have been in contact with Da Silva are being urged to contact health authorities as soon as possible.
According to Parker, Da Silva is a citizen of both Guyana and Brazil and would regularly traverse between the two countries but he permanently resides in Bom Fim, Brazil, a nearby town. He explained that although the Guyana/Brazil border was closed for weeks, persons have continued to travel between the two countries via the unconventional borders.
A few days ago, Da Silva showed up at the Lethem Hospital displaying COVID-19 symptoms. According to Parker, he told health authorities that he was diagnosed with malaria in Brazil and he was admitted to the hospital due to the severity of his symptoms.
However, as his condition continued to deteriorate, Da Silva was further questioned and he revealed that he had illegally crossed the border, which resulted in him being immediately isolated. He was subsequently tested and on Monday it was revealed that he was infected with the respiratory disease.
Around 3 am yesterday, Da Silva escaped during a heavy downpour but this was not known until 6.30 am when the nurses went into the isolation facility to give him his medication. An alarm was raised and a search was launched by regional authorities. He was later located by Brazilian authorities in Bom Fim and was taken to an isolation facility in the town, where he will remain until he recovers.
Parker stated that it is not known how Da Silva escaped but noted that the hospital compound is very large and a person can leave it without being seen. Further, he stressed, Da Silva should not be considered the first coronavirus case in Region Nine considering that he lives in Brazil and entered the country illegally.
However, during his time in Guyana, persons may have unknowingly contracted the disease and this could lead to a health emergency in the region. Parker noted that they have already located a number of persons who had contact with Da Silva. Those persons will be quarantined.
He stressed that currently Lethem has an isolation facility that can only accommodate four persons and added that they are working towards increasing the number of rooms.
Parker added that 14 staff members of the hospital, with whom Da Silva might have had contact, have been placed in quarantine. “Some of our staff [were] exposed to him but those staff are right now under quarantine,” Parker said.
Meanwhile, Parker is appealing to residents to stop travelling back and forth between the two countries as Brazil now has more than 170,000 cases of COVID-19. The closest Brazilian state to Region Nine has recorded more than 1,290 cases while the second closest state has recorded more than 12,599, the fifth highest in that country.
With the deadly disease spreading rapidly through Brazil, Parker said they have since increased border patrols but this is very difficult as they do not have the technology or the men to patrol the entire border.
He added, however, that Bom Fim is now in complete lockdown so Brazilian authorities have tightened security at the border. “Now that Bom Fim is in lockdown, it will ease our problem a bit,” he stated before adding that the Brazilian authorities have begun using drones to patrol the border at nights.
Despite that, he stressed, it will still be challenging to patrol the entire border so the region has enlisted the help of village councils located close to the borderline. “We have told village councils to take certain measures to block people from entering the country illegally and so we are depending on them to ensure that people don’t come over,” he said.
He added that St Ignatius was presented with a speedboat to patrol the Takutu River but all the measures that have been implemented thus far have been ignored by many people, who still continue to traverse between the two countries as he emphasised that the only way to prevent the disease from entering the region is by adhering to the guidelines that have been outlined.
