A new COVID-19 outbreak in Region Nine has sparked concerns that there might a virus variant circulating in the region.
Faced with the possibility of there being a more deadly outbreak than the last, Chairman Bryan Allicock said a lock down of the region should be considered as the virus seems to be more transmissible and deadlier, with the majority of COVID-19 infected persons experiencing moderate to severe symptoms.
He stated that an area of concern is the Deep South Rupununi, which currently accounts for the majority of the COVID-19 cases within the region. In total, the region has over 40 active COVID-19 cases, with over 100 test results outstanding. Areas affected with COVID-19 include Lethem and St Ignatius in Central Rupununi, and Aishalton and Maruranau in the Deep South Rupununi.
Testing has been ongoing but Toshao of Aishalton and Vice Chairman of the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) Michael Thomas has voiced concern about the need for more testing as residents of several communities in the Deep South Rupununi have said that they have developed symptoms similar to those associated with COVID-19 but are not being tested.
A recent BBC report said COVID figures released by health authorities across South America show a number of countries grappling with a spike in infections and deaths, which has been attributed to the variant from Brazil, which is across the border from Region Nine. The variant is suspected to be more than twice as transmissible as the original.
Although the Ministry of Health has not officially confirmed the presence of a COVID variant here, it has recently acknowledged that new cases suggest that the virus is spreading faster and with deadlier results. The current month has seen the highest number of deaths recorded to date.
Meanwhile, according to Allicock, the fears that there is a variant in the region has resulted in an increase in testing even in areas that have not reported any positive cases of the virus. “They did random testing in the North Rupununi to see if anybody is infected with COVID. We are hoping and praying that we don’t have any more positive cases but it’s rapidly spreading in the South so it’s likely that there is a variant here and it’s not the first strain that we had earlier. But we are trying to deal with it,” Allicock said before adding that doctors have been checking on the COVID-19 patients and it was on that basis they suspect a variant is circulating in the region.
Additionally, he said the new cases originated from Georgetown, after which the virus was transmitted to other communities that are now affected. In fact, he said on Wednesday a member of the Guyana Defence Force who travelled from Georgetown tested positive for COVID-19 a day after his arrival in Lethem.
However, he said the threat of the variant has led to persons being more compliant with the emergency measures, especially as it relates to adhering to the curfew.
Allicock added that he fully supports the decision by Thomas to impose a total lockdown on his community because of the virus’ rapid spread. “We are contemplating similar measures but I can’t make a decision like that on my own, so when we meet for the COVID meeting on Wednesday we will discuss that,” he said.
During the last major COVID-19 outbreak in the Region, Allicock had written to the Task Force seeking permission to lock down the Region but this was denied by the former APNU+AFC coalition government.
He added that the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) has been assisting communities that are affected by the virus by providing food hampers. In addition, he said, they are also ramping up their vaccination awareness programmes so that more persons can be vaccinated against the virus. He noted that many are still skeptical about getting vaccinated but with the virus more transmissible and seemingly deadlier, it is vital that as many persons as possible get vaccinated.
Allicock said the region has added two mobile vaccination units and now has a total of five and these would travel around the region encouraging and vaccinating people. ‘”Hopefully by mid-next week we might be able to complete vaccination but the process is slow because a lot of people are reluctant to take the vaccine,” he said.
There are fixed vaccination sites in Aishalton, Lethem and Annai.
Thus far some 491 COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the region.
