The Ministry of Health (MoH) yesterday confirmed the deaths of three more persons who were infected with COVID-19, including a centenarian.
The latest fatalities increase the total number of COVID-19 deaths recorded by Guyana to date to 492. According to a statement from the ministry, the three deceased were a 102-year-old woman of Region Four, who died on Friday, and a 60-year-old man from Region Six and a 67-year-old man from region Four, who both died on Thursday.
They all died while in state care.
For the month up to Friday, 16 persons infected with COVID-19 were officially confirmed as having died, with 14 cases being recorded over the last week.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 dashboard that was released yesterday informed that 90 new cases have been recorded from 1,469 tests that were done, increasing the total number of cases here to date to 20,924. Of the new cases, 29 are from Region Four, 12 each from regions Two and Ten, 10 from Region One, 8 each from regions Three and Nine, 6 from Region Six and 5 from Region Five.
There are 12 persons in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 85 in institutional isolation, 1,337 in home isolation and 15 in institutional quarantine.
Based on the dashboards from last Sunday to yesterday, 619 new cases have been detected from 7,682 tests done.
Ministry of Health Dr Frank Anthony on Friday disclosed that as of Thursday 237,882 persons have received their first dose and this represents approximately 48.9% of the Guyanese adult population. Some 118,126 persons have received their second dose and this accounts for 24.3 % of the adult population. Anthony added that while these numbers show positive signs, there is still a long way to go, especially considering that the Delta variant is becoming the dominant COVID strain globally. “The only way you can effectively protect yourself is fi you have both doses of the vaccine,’ Anthony said before urging persons to ensure that they get their second doses.
The Ministry of Health is yet to confirm the presence of COVID-19 variants in Guyana despite initiating plans for samples to undergo gene sequencing months ago. When last questioned, Anthony had stated that they are still trying to put arrangements in place for gene sequencing to be done to determine whether a variant is in Guyana.
