The Regional Health Officer (RHO) of Region One Dr Stephen Cheefoon has assured residents of the Moruca-sub district that there will be no recurrence of a COVID-19-positive patient being picked up for isolation before even being informed of their status.
Cheefoon gave the assurance in a video that was produced by the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) and shared on Facebook.
In the video, the RHO explained that there is COVID-19 Office in Mabaruma, which is headed by a doctor, with four clerical staff members, and it is they who are responsible for informing persons who have tested for COVID-19 of their results. Once that team in Mabaruma receives the results from the National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL) in Georgetown, he said, persons are informed via telephone.
Upon receiving the results, persons who have tested positive for the disease are given ample time to prepare for their departure to the isolation facilities.
He noted that there was only one incident when there was a “mix-up” and a patient was collected from her home before receiving her results. Cheefoon explained that after the sample was tested, the results were sent to Moruca and a discussion was held with the Rapid Response Team. He disclosed that while the driver was en route to one of the isolation facilities, he preempted the situation and collected the patient before she was informed by the doctor in Mabaruma. “We understand the difficulty and we understand that the incident has occurred but it has never occurred before and we have measures in place to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Cheefoon said.
Meanwhile, Cheefoon also discussed another incident in the Moruca sub-district where a resident of Santa Rosa claimed that the hospital’s courier showed up and told the person that he took a COVID-19 test when he did not. Cheefoon denied that incident ever occurred, while noting that the courier service is used to distribute tests results to persons who are negative. He stated that the courier service is managed by a staff member who is a permanent resident of Moruca considering that the sub-district doesn’t have lot numbers and streets to properly identify where persons may live.
Referring to the incident, he said that there were two persons with the same name and vague addresses. As a result, the courier showed up at the first home and asked the name and age of the person. Cheefoon noted that the only difference between the two persons were their age so when the first person told the courier his age, the courier apologised and said that he was not the person they were looking for and subsequently asked where the other person lived. The courier was then directed to the home of the correct person.
“The verification person is very, very strict when distributing results and everyone was called before receiving their results. No one was ever given the hard copy of the result without ever receiving a call nor was anyone given a hard copy result erroneously,” the RHO stressed.
The Moruca-sub district has recorded a total of 82 COVID-19 cases, inclusive of one death. According to the Santa Rosa Village Council, as of yesterday morning 15 persons had recovered from the disease.
