The family of James Downer, who had contracted the novel coronavirus prior to his passing last Friday are unsure whether the seventy-three-year-old man contracted the virus during his recent travel to the interior or while he was a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
Stabroek News spoke with the deceased’s son-in-law, Devon Edwards, who recounted Downer turning up at his and his wife’s (Downer’s daughter) home on Sunday, August 16. Edwards said that the late pensioner had a vending business he operated and had sent up some goods to the Linden/Soesdyke Highway, arriving after to sort out his affairs.
According to Edwards, his father-in-law was always a good-humoured person but when he arrived that Sunday, he didn’t seem his normal cheerful self. Initially, the couple thought that the man had had a drink too many. Downer’s daughter noticed his demeanour and drew this to Edwards’ attention who recalled that he told the elderly man that he looked unusually tired.