The Cuyuni/Mazaruni region has recorded a total of 38 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases to date, seven of which are from Bartica.
This is according to a statement by the Regional Health Officer (RHO) Dr Edward Sagala who spoke on behalf of the Region Seven Regional Health Emergency Committee (RHEC).
The statement disclosed that as of yesterday July 8, there are 38 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Region Seven, inclusive of one death. Bartica has recorded a total of seven cases while the rest of the cases are distributed among mining areas such as Aranka.
In addition, it was revealed that there are six persons currently in institutional isolation while 22 persons are awaiting their test results. Further, the statement added that seven persons who were re-tested have since been discharged following a negative COVID-19 test result.
Meanwhile, nine persons are being trained to conduct screening at the Sherima crossing, Vulture boat landing, and the Fifth Avenue Beach in Bartica.
A regional health team, comprising of three persons, left for Puruni Landing yesterday to conduct sensitisation, screening, and where applicable, testing for COVID-19, while a team from the Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC) in Georgetown was dispatched to Aranka and its environs on July 5. The statement added that an update on the situation in those areas will be provided once both teams return.
While the Ministry of Public Health had announced that mass testing in Aranka and the Moruca sub-district would soon commence, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle stated that this is not so, and that health officials will be collecting samples as is normally done.
