According to Regional Democratic Council Chairman, Bryan Allicock, the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Region Nine is due to residents not adhering to the preventative measures outlined by health officials.
Approximately 147 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Region Nine during the earlier part of this week with the majority being recorded on Tuesday. Speaking with Stabroek News yesterday, Allicock said that there are now 206 active cases distributed across the Region.
“The cases are rising all over. Communities in the South, Central and North Rupununi are all affected with at least two villages having more than 40 active cases,” he said, before adding that the South Rupununi accounts for the majority of the cases as almost all the villages have recorded at least one COVID-19 case.
In the Central Rupununi, he said affected areas include Lethem, St Ignatius and Moco Moco and in the North, Apoteri, Annai and Rewa among several others. He revealed that the sudden and quick increase in COVID-19 cases pointed towards persons not adhering to guidelines issued by health authorities.
“People are not listening and observing the protocols, they are having a lot of parties and still enjoying themselves and travelling so that’s how the cases ending up in all these places,” he said. Allicock noted that their lax behaviour is despite the flooding that is wreaking havoc in the region presently.
In addition, he said, illegal travelling between Guyana and Brazil is playing a role as it was recently discovered that someone who had crossed over from Brazil was found to be COVID-19 positive. The community the patient was found in is now battling an outbreak in the north Rupununi, according to Allicock.
However, despite the many disruptions that the flooding has caused in the Region, the Chairman said that COVID-19 vaccination exercises are not being hindered and the health team is around the region trying to get persons to get vaccinated. He said that by the end of the week they are hoping that over 40% of the population would have received their first shot of a vaccine.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony during his daily COVID-19 update said in many areas especially in the hinterland COVID-19 vaccination has been stalled but the fixed sites are providing their services on a daily basis.
He noted that in Region Nine, the majority of the area has been affected by flooding and this has caused some amount of difficulty for the teams in the region.
“We are still pushing some of the mobile sites to get people vaccinated so those centres are working and have not been affected by the flooding,” he said. He noted that this applies for all interior locations.
