Region Two is currently experiencing an increase of Covid-19 with 23 persons having died from the virus to date and 158 active cases.
Regional Health Officer (RHO) Region Two, Dr. Ranjeev Singh, during an interview with this newspaper, said it is evident that persons are not adhering to the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 guidelines. “… Covid is on the rise in Region Two and it is clear that persons are in a relax mode…we are also not doing well when it comes to vaccination,” said Dr. Singh. He is hoping to flatten the curve in the Pomeroon-Supenaam region but noted that health workers alone cannot do it and it requires persons to get vaccinated.
“Statistically speaking, of all the persons that died from Covid-19, 98% of those persons were unvaccinated… so for those persons who heard of that statistic, I want to assure you that there are sufficient vaccines for children and adults available in the Region.”
Dr. Singh called on parents, both on the coast and the Pomeroon River, to get their children vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. The vaccination sites are Anna Regina Health Centre, Anna Regina Car Park, Charity Health Centre, Queenstown Health Centre, Windsor Castle Health Centre, and Dartmouth Health Centre. The vaccination team will be going into the Pomeroon River on different schedules.
“Vaccine is the only way we can come out from the pandemic… I urge all Essequibians to get vaccinated…if we want to get back to our normal life… we have to defeat the pandemic… (It is) scientifically proven and the only way we can do so is by attaining herd immunity.” The Region currently has the first dose of the Sputnik V and the first and second doses of AstraZeneca and Sinopharm. Dr. Singh has also called on parents to be responsible and to ensure that children receive the vaccines.
Over 1200 children have already been vaccinated out of 4100 in the Region. He said that the vaccination team is currently in the process of visiting the various Amerindian communities to administer the vaccines. The team recently visited Wakapoa and Akawini. He said with the new measures gazetted by the Ministry of Health persons are showing more interest in taking the vaccines although the region is still far behind achieving herd immunity. To date, only 55% of the adult population have been vaccinated.
The RHO also said that it costs the Regional Health Care Services over $500,000 daily to source oxygen for the Covid-19 patients. He also disclosed that the Covid-19 facility in the region is full of patients and it is costing the region an exorbitant amount to provide oxygen and food for 14 days while at the facility.
The total Covid-19 cases in the Region is 1025 with 6 persons hospitalized in Georgetown. With those figures Region Two is now considered one of the hot spots in Guyana and as such residents have to be extremely careful when going about in public. He said that with the new ferry schedules he hopes persons will observe the necessary Covid-19 guidelines and wear masks and practice social distancing. “We are seeing that many persons are coming to spend a weekend in Region Two… we have a lot of lakes open… bars are open… first of all I want to appeal to the general public if you have not taken your first shot of the vaccine please ensure you do,” Dr. Singh said.
