The Ministry of Health on Saturday confirmed four more COVID-19 deaths along with 242 new cases of the virus.
According to a Ministry of Health press statement, the four deaths included that of an 89-year-old woman, who succumbed on September 29, taking that month’s death toll to 168, the highest number of deaths recorded in a single month here since the start of the pandemic. The woman, from Region Two, was unvaccinated.
The other deceased comprised two other women, ages 84 and 78, who were also unvaccinated as well as a man, 49, who was partially vaccinated. They were all from Region Four.
The announced deaths have taken the number of fatalities from the virus in Guyana to 796.
Meanwhile, the ministry’s updated COVID-19 dashboard showed that the new infections were recorded from 2,185 tests that were conducted. In addition, the dashboard showed that 32 persons were hospitalised in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit.
On Friday, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony disclosed that 359,222 adults or 70% of the eligible adult population had received at least a first dose, with 199,978 of them or 39% also receiving second doses.
During his daily COVID-19 update, Anthony also said that 24,460 children have thus far received a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, while 11,601 children received their second dose. Children 12 and over are only being vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine.
Anthony also gave a regional breakdown of the first- and second-dose vaccination rates and noted that uptake was lagging in regions Ten (29.7% first dose and 13.2% second dose), Eight (44.1% and 29.4%) and Two (57.3% and 33.5%). As a result, he appealed for action in those regions, while noting their relatively low vaccination rates amidst the rising number of cases.
Anthony also disclosed that 27 expectant mothers were among the hospitalised COVID-19 cases. He explained that 12 of them are at the Ocean View Infectious Disease Hospital, at Liliendaal, and 15 are at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
