Dear Editor,
In keeping with guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the death of the 11-year-old child, whose admittance to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) was due to complications with cancer, and who eventually tested positive for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), will be re-classified as a COVID-19 related death.
The child, who lived in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), was admitted on November 4, 2020 and died on November 6, 2020 due to leukemia, a cancer of the blood.
The section of the WHO guidelines relating to the classification of deaths states that “a death due to COVID-19 is defined for surveillance purposes as a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed COVID-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to COVID disease (e.g. trauma).”
Before death, the patient was tested for COVID-19, and this turned out to be positive, but there were no symptoms of the COVID-19 disease.
According to the WHO guidelines, since her death was not caused by COVID-19, but she was COVID-19 positive at the time of death, it is to be recorded as a COVID-19 related death.
This death will therefore be reflected in tomorrow’s Dashboard (18 November, 2020).
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Narine Singh
Chief Medical Officer
