Due to the local delays in processing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) samples, the Ministry of Health will be approaching the Brazilian government to discuss whether laboratories in the neighbouring country can undertake testing, Region Nine Chair-man Bryan Allicock has revealed.
This was confirmed by Ministry spokesman Daniel Singh, who told Stabroek News that Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony is engaging his counterpart in Brazil regarding the matter and the decision to do so is to obtain results at a faster rate. He explained that due to the close proximity of the region to Brazil, laboratories there would be a better option than sending the samples to Georgetown and then to Trinidad for testing. He added that an update in this regard should be provided by the end of the week.
Allicock disclosed that over the past weekend he participated in virtual meetings with the Brazil-ian government and with residents having to wait for weeks before they receive their COVID-19 tests results, he said he decided to ask them how much it would cost to have samples analyzed in laboratories in Brazil and if it would be possible to send samples from the region for processing.
He noted that he received a positive response and the cost to analyse samples is favourable. He said he has since told Anthony about the option and the minister agreed that the cost was favourable. Allicock did not disclose the cost. However, he revealed that a meeting is scheduled for tomorrow with Brazilian Health representatives and the owners of the laboratories. Anthony and Allicock will be participating in the meeting.
Allicock added that should they reach an agreement, it would have a significant impact on the region considering that persons will be receiving their results within 48 hours. He noted that due to the local backlog of tests many persons have been spending weeks in quarantine. He further revealed that the region is still waiting for hundreds of sample results, some of which date back to August 10th.
Meanwhile, the tests results that the region received on Monday, according to Allicock, have revealed that four more indigenous communities have recorded cases of the deadly disease and a person who passed away over two weeks ago was confirmed to have died from the disease.
The 79-year-old man is from the indigenous village of Yakarinta. Although he died while receiving treatment at the Lethem Regional Hospital, he along with nine others from that community were tested by chance during the time doctors were conducting mass swabbing in the Rupununi area. The deceased also suffered from diabetes and hypertension.
Yakarinta, Toka, Tiperu and Rukumutu are the four indigenous communities that now have confirmed cases. “These tests were done several weeks ago and only now the results are coming back and some people are not getting back their results up to now so it’s a long delay. Some people died and when their results returned they were positive and now this other man die, so we had to add him to the list,” Allicock said.
Four persons have died from the coronavirus in the region thus far.
As a result of the death in Yakarinta, a team will be heading into that community to conduct mass swabbing, Allicock said.
When asked how these cases are being detected, the Chairman said, “We just went into the villages and tested people who were complaining of being unwell because we didn’t have enough swabs to do the whole community. We asked them the symptoms they had and they did the test on them and now it’s proven to be positive.”
However, he noted, the persons who were tested were all in quarantine and lately doctors have been going into the affected communities on a daily basis to monitor the quarantined patients. “Most of them showed no signs actually. Some of them were asymptomatic but by we did the mass swabbing, that is how come we pick up the virus but most of them are okay and back to normal,” he said.
Additionally, he said, persons who are displaying symptoms of the disease are being brought to Lethem even if they have not yet received their COVID-19 results. He revealed that there are currently two patients in the Lethem Regional Hospital special care unit, five in the quarantine section and two in isolation facilities.
Despite recording a significant number of cases in the Region, Allicock said, most persons are asymptomatic and those with mild symptoms are getting over the disease quickly, with many crediting their resort to herbal teas or medicines.
