Toshao of Kwebanna Paul Pierre yesterday said that the community hasn’t recorded a single coronavirus disease (COVID-19) case during the past few days noting that this is largely due to the lockdown that was imposed on the community more than two weeks ago.
In October, the community of more than 500 persons recorded two COVID-19 deaths. The deaths brought focus to the community which is located in the Moruca sub-district in Region One. The discovery of multiple cases in the community led to the village council imposing a two-week lockdown on Kwebanna to help stop further spread of the virus.
With the help of regional and government officials, residents were able to sustain themselves as they were provided with hampers and other necessary items. However, after the two weeks ended Regional Health Officials recommended that the lockdown be extended and so the community is currently observing its final week of lockdown.
Pierre told Stabroek News yesterday that he was happy to report that no new cases have been detected in the community within the last few days despite mass testing still being conducted. He said that he believes that this is due to the imposed lockdown measures.
“I would say that the lockdown has been very effective because we didn’t had any new cases for the past few days and things seem to be going back to normal,” he said.
Although this is good news for everyone in the community, Pierre said he has cautioned villagers against becoming careless as it relates to observing national COVID-19 guidelines. “We cannot become careless and we must be able to maintain some sort of security for ourselves and this will only happen if people adhere to COVID-19 preventative measures,” he added.
Meanwhile, like Pierre, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony also said that he believes that the lockdown measures have been working as they have seen a reduction of cases in the community. He added a medical team is still in Kwebanna monitoring persons in isolation to ensure that they are ok.
“So far we are very pleased with the way people have been cooperating with us in Kwebanna. The Village Council have really helped us and have worked very closely with the Ministry of Health and I think because of their collaboration we have been able to curtail the amount of cases that we have in Kwebanna,” he said.
Out of the 87 active cases in Region One, Kwebanna accounts for 37. The Ministry of Health has confirmed that the COVID-19 situation in the community is stabilizing. Thus far, the community has recorded a total of at least 71 COVID-19 cases inclusive of 2 deaths.
The Minister also disclosed that they have been monitoring communities close to Kwebanna and have isolated the persons who tested positive. “I think those numbers are going down as well and I think once we remain vigilant, the community remains vigilant we will see those numbers decreasing even further,” he said.
Region One has recorded a total of 781 COVID-19 cases and more than 20 COVID-19 related deaths. Due to its high number of deaths and close proximity to Venezuela the region has to observe special protocols measures instituted on the region by the MoH.
