Almost two weeks after two new cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were detected in Itabac, Region Eight, health officials are yet to go into the indigenous community to commence requisite contact tracing and quarantining in keeping with established Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) protocols.
In fact, according to Michael McGarrell, a resident of Region Eight, neither of the two COVID-19 positive persons is in isolation and one of them, a health worker, is still going to work.
Itabac is an indigenous community in the Potaro-Siparuni region, located on the Guyana/Brazil border. During an interview with Stabroek News yesterday, McGarrell revealed that the first COVID-19 case in the region was someone who had travelled from the Moruca sub-district in Region One, while the two new cases were from Itabac. The two had no connection to the first case.