After recording 24 cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the village council of Batavia, in Region Seven, has decided to lock down the community in order to stop the spread of the virus within the area.
However, according to Toshao Oren Williams, although residents agree that the lockdown is necessary, many have said that that they don’t have the resources or food supplies to keep them afloat for the next two weeks.
The lockdown was instituted on the community of 550 residents by the Village Council on Wednesday.
In an interview with Stabroek News yesterday, Williams stated that the lockdown was instituted because of the increase in COVID-19 cases and the possibility that the numbers might increase.
He revealed that, initially, many persons did not believe that the disease was real.
“Most of them were not taking it seriously because they hearing a lot of rumours and they believe in rumours, like the virus is not real and it is not around and its fake and those kind of things,” he said before adding that the Village Council made numerous attempts to sensitize them about the virus but many of them did not pay attention to those public awareness campaigns.
Additionally, he said, it was very difficult getting persons to understand the seriousness of the threat given the lack of resources. He noted that many persons do not have access to television or radio, while some persons cannot read.
“There was panic in the village but people are beginning to realize that we have to be together in this and have to get together to see how best we can contain the disease. So now I’m getting a little support from them,” he stated.
He added that although the outbreak in Guyana hadn’t affected them much as it relates to employment, they were immediately affected after the first case of COVID-19 was recorded considering that persons were being placed in quarantine and were not allowed to leave their homes. He noted that he pleaded for assistance from the National Toshaos Council, of which he is an executive member, and food hampers were sent to the village for those persons who were infected with the disease and those who were unable to sustain themselves.
Now that the cases in the villages are increasing, the Toshao said, residents are putting their trust in him and have agreed that a lockdown is necessary. However, he added, many have approached him and told him that they cannot afford to sustain themselves for two weeks without going about their daily activities.
“So now how the virus hit the villages, most of the people are in quarantine and they are at home and they can’t move, so now nobody can’t work, especially the ones who are positive. They’re at home and they’re trying with the money that they have. They are stocking up their homes with food but as we shut down I’m getting calls from people, the residents that can’t afford it. They are the ones that are asking how they are able to carry on for the two weeks without getting any assistance. So I assured them that we will be reaching out to the government and different NGOs [Non-Government Organizations] and see how fast assistance can get here,” he said.
Williams disclosed that since the outbreak in their village, they haven’t been assisted in anyway and they had to deal with the outbreak with the limited resources that they have. He revealed that he spoke to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira, who told him that she passed on his message for assistance to the Minister of Amerindian Affairs and Minister of Health regarding his request for assistance but to date he hasn’t received any feedback.
“We decide to close our village from yesterday (Wednesday) so nobody is not coming out or going into the village and we stopped the interior transportation from coming here because we are in a lockdown. Most of the persons have foodstuff that can last them for the 14 days so for now. But persons have been calling saying that they don’t have enough,” he stressed.
Imported
Meanwhile, Williams revealed that the community recorded 24 cases of COVID-19 and they are still awaiting the results of several persons. He disclosed that the Deputy Toshao, the Village Council’s Secretary and the midwife are among the 24 persons who tested positive for the virus.
The Toshao told Stabroek News that many persons in the community work at a nearby community, named Devil Hole, from where the first set of cases was imported. He said that four persons from the community tested positive for the disease while they were at Devil Hole. However, two of the four persons returned to Batavia despite knowing that they were COVID-19 positive. He said that after they realized that the two infected persons were in the community, they contacted the health department immediately and 15 of the close contacts of the two infected patients were tested. He revealed that out of the fifteen tests done, ten were positive.
He further disclosed that as a result of two of his colleagues testing positive, he was placed under quarantine and was tested. “I was tested and my results came back negative. Thank God,” he stated.
Williams then stated that no one in the community has recovered from the disease to date but the first set of patients is awaiting retesting. He revealed that the majority of the patients are symptomatic. Additionally, while no children have contracted the virus as yet, a number of teenagers have tested positive for the disease.
“Some of them are complaining of headaches, fever, loss of taste and smell. Some of them say they feel ok and they are not having any more symptoms. The medical personnel are attending to them daily along with the health worker in the village. The Red Cross gave us some protective gear, so we utilizing that when we go to check them out,” he added.
In addition, the Toshao revealed that the community has no isolation facility and was told by health authorities that the isolation facilities at Bartica are filled. However, he said, persons have approached him and told him that the patients can be isolated at their homes. Williams said as a result, they sanitized the buildings and patients were placed in those houses close to their homes. He noted that the patients revealed that they would feel comfortable if they can still see their families from a distance and resultantly those patients are being isolated in houses in view of their homes but at a good distance away to prevent infection of persons living close by.
Region Seven recorded 148 cases of COVID-19 up to the latest information that was available yesterday.
