One hundred and sixty-nine persons from 33 households are currently under quarantine as Aishalton Village in the Deep South Rupununi continues to battle the spread of COVID-19.
Yesterday, the village recorded two new infections taking the total number of active cases to 31, community activist and member of the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC), Immaculata Casimeiro last night told this newspaper.
She said that since the first set of cases were recorded in the community, medical workers have been testing persons who display symptoms of the virus.
According to Casimeiro, the virus has spread from one section of the village to other areas forcing the village council to conduct public education outreaches on preventive measures. She said that the village is in need of sanitation packages to distribute to households.
“We at the SRDC had some sanitation packages with bleach and sanitizers but that has been used up and the people are calling and asking for more now. I will say we need some help getting that to the families to protect themselves,” she pleaded.
It was also pointed out that with most families in quarantine it has become difficult for them to secure food and earn. “Some persons have been calling asking if we can provide food so the SRDC have been helping a bit with that but our people still need some assistance in getting foodstuff,” she added.
One person, Simon Marcello, a 96-year-old man from the village died after testing positive for the virus.
Last week, after the village recorded nine cases, the council imposed a one-month lockdown on the community. Having put stringent measures in place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana the community managed to avoid an outbreak of the virus for more than a year.
The lockdown went into effect last week and was imposed after consultations with the health authorities. Only essential services will be allowed into the village and persons from Lethem or Georgetown travelling to the community will have to quarantine for a given period of time. A 6 pm to 6 am curfew was also instituted. The measures will be enforced by the village council, police, army and health team.
Under the lockdown measures, the council has said that villagers from Lethem and/or Georgetown entering will have to quarantine in their homes for a given period while foreigners coming from Brazil will not be permitted into the village. The village is also not open to visitors.
