Although the majority of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in St. Cuthbert’s Mission are asymptomatic, the Ministry of Health (MoH) is currently considering identifying an isolation facility in the community to cater for persons with mild symptoms of the virus.
St. Cuthbert’s Mission has recorded 168 COVID-19 cases all of which are active. Of the total number of cases, 22 were recorded on Wednesday.
So far, according to the Ministry, all of the positive cases with the exception of one are being isolated at their homes in the community. The only positive patient currently being isolated at a facility in Georgetown is a pregnant woman who is required to be monitored given her condition.
During a COVID-19 update yesterday, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony noted that the situation in the community has been very difficult to manage and they are currently trying to ensure that persons adhere to all preventative measures in place. He stated that it would be two to three weeks before the situation is brought under control.
“St Cuthbert’s has been a little challenging. We have spoken to the village council and we have been working with them. They have been helping us by talking to the residents there. It’s quite a large village and they are spread over a large territory and therefore sometimes trying to monitor everybody can prove to be a challenge…… As we do more testing I expect that those numbers would go up so we have to get people to self- isolate and we have to get people to reduce their social activities in the community and once we are able to accomplish that … then we would be able to bring the cases under control…… In about 2-3 weeks we would be able to control the cases there and we would see a steep decline,” he said.
In addition, he noted that the main entrance and exits into and out of St. Cuthbert’s Mission are being monitored by members of the Joint Services. Further, he said that mass testing is continuing and medical personnel in the area have been increased.
Residents of the community are expected to be observing a lockdown imposed by the Village council and the MoH. Stabroek News was told that many residents are refusing to adhere to the instituted measures hence the presence of the Joint Services in the community.
