Guyana has adopted the updated World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on the release of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients from isolation while still testing positive.
This was disclosed by the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle, who recently told this newspaper that asymptomatic patients will be discharged from isolation at least 10 days after their first positive test. She disclosed that this new protocol is keeping with the updated recommendations from the WHO for discharging patients from isolation. The updated recommendation came into effect on June 17 and a number of asymptomatic patients from the Moruca sub-district and Diamond isolation facilities have since been discharged as a result. It is unclear whether those persons are being regarded as recovered patients.
Previously, the recommendation for releasing COVID-19 patients required patients to be fully clinically recovered from the virus and to have two negative RT-PCR results on sequential samples taken at least 24 hours apart. The initial recommendation was based on the WHO’s knowledge and experience regarding coronaviruses such as SARS and MERs