A resident of Culvert City in Lethem on Wednesday tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo Region to Five.
While the region has already recorded four cases of COVID-19, those cases are all imported considering that all four persons contracted the disease while they were in Brazil.
A fifth case of the disease was recorded on Wednesday. According to the Regional Health Officer (RHO) Niall Uthman, the patient was transferred from the Lethem Regional Hospital to a health facility in Georgetown on June 28th before she was tested. While at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) a decision was made to test the person for COVID-19. The person was later confirmed to have the disease.
Uthman said that while he does not know where the patient contracted the disease, he is certain that the person had no contact with the three patients who tested positive for the disease recently. In addition, it was revealed that the person had no travel history to neighbouring Brazil. Meanwhile, the Regional Executive Officer (REO) Carl Parker said the patient is a resident of Culvert City, Lethem. Parker also confirmed that the patient is not one of the persons who were brought over from Brazil. In a previous report Parker had stated that the region is not prepared to handle an outbreak of the disease and had encouraged the Toshaos in the regions to tighten preventative measures.
The region now has a total of five cases of COVID-19. The first was a male named Hamlett DaSilva, who illegally crossed the Guyana/Brazil border. He was tested while receiving treatment at the Lethem hospital. He was later confirmed to be infected with the disease but escaped from the isolation facility a few hours later and returned to Brazil, where he spent the remainder of his isolation period.
In mid-June, two 10-year-olds who were brought over from Brazil to prepare for the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) tested positive for the disease. On Monday, the region confirmed its fourth case and it was revealed to be another person who resided in Brazil and requested to return to Lethem to continue his work.
The three are currently in isolation at a facility in Lethem. A number of persons including NGSA and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) students and their parents were quarantined as a result.
