The Ministry of Health yesterday confirmed another COVID-19 death, taking the country’s death toll to 201 since the first case was confirmed almost a year ago.
The ministry identified the latest fatality as a 57-year-old man from Region Four and noted that he died while receiving care at a public medical facility.
To mark the country’s 200th COVID-19 death, the main opposition APNU+AFC on Friday evening held a vigil at the Promenade Gardens, which saw a display of 200 candles lit in memory of the each of the citizens who have died.
In a statement, APNU+AFC said Leader of the Opposition Joseph Harmon highlighted the many Guyanese families troubled by the pain of this loss and cautioned against the citizenry becoming numb as a nation to the devastating effects of the pandemic. He said the vigil was also being held as a reminder that more needs to be done by the administration to enforce the measures which are meant to keep the citizenry safe and prevent more loss of life.
Although the COVID-19 Emergency Measures make mask wearing mandatory in public, and requires physical distancing and good hand-hygiene to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, a significant number of citizens continue to breach them, while enforcement has been criticised as inadequate and selective.
As of yesterday, the Ministry of Health also confirmed 43 more cases of COVID-19 in Guyana, from 674 samples that were tested. The new cases take the total number of cases confirmed here to date to 8,772.
