A woman was yesterday taken into quarantine from the New Amsterdam Market after it was reported that she was exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.
This then led to the market being closed immediately for sanitization to be carried out.
Director of Regional Health Services, Jevaughn Stephens, yesterday confirmed with Stabroek News that one person was taken into quarantine. He said on Sunday evening someone contacted health authorities via the hotline about a person with COVID-19 symptoms. He said, the caller informed them that the person might be in Berbice and provided a picture of the said person.
“We received information that a person may have possible COVID-19 symptoms, so we followed protocol and we sent a team out to ensure they found that person”. According to Stephens, the person when approached by the team cooperated. He said the woman’s symptoms will now have to be monitored after which it would be decided whether to administer a test. “We will monitor the person’s symptoms and we will do a subsequent test when necessary so that we could be able to in a matter of days or hours inform residents of East Berbice-Corentyne, New Amsterdam specifically on the update of this particular patient”.
Stephens said that the response team is compiling a file in an effort to track persons that the female would have come into contact with.
Eyewitnesses at the market told Stabroek News that the quarantined woman who was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and face mask was approached by four male medical professionals yesterday midday in the vegetable section of the market.
One stallholder said that at first the woman put up an argument but then decided to enter the ambulance after the medial professionals spoke with her multiple times.
Stallholders said they were then asked to close up for the day as the market was going to be sanitized immediately.
Stephens yesterday said, “For precautions we sent our environmental health team to ensure that the market area is properly fumigated”.
