With the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increasing by 40% and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions doubling during the first three weeks of the year, opposition party A New and United Guyana (ANUG) on Saturday called on the government to consider reinstituting restrictions to limit physical contact between citizens in order to curb the continuing spread the virus.
In particular, the party said there is need to review the allowance for some non-essential services as well as the continuation of face-to-face classes in schools.
“…[I]f the country remains fully open, the number of positive cases, ICU’s and mortalities will continue to trend high. If face to face schooling is maintained, we must expect increased infections in the school population,” the party said in a statement, where it also called on all Guyanese to observe the gazetted COVID-19 protocols, and on the National COVID-19 Taskforce, the Central Board of Health and relevant arms of the government to ensure full compliance.
ANUG’s calls come in wake of its review of the COVID-19 statistics released by the Ministry of Health for the January 1 to January 21 period. Apart from the rise in the number of confirmed cases from 39,779 to 55628 and doubling of ICU admissions to an average of 12 cases a day, ANUG highlighted a 25% positive COVID infection rate from the number of tests done. ANUG pointed out that the positivity rate is a critical guide to health care managers who must manage much needed testing resources which are in demand worldwide.
Although it noted that the mortality numbers remain relatively lower as a percentage of overall recorded infections — which may lend credence to suggestions that the Omicron variant is the reason for this new increase in infections with proportionally fewer deaths or point to the success of the national vaccination programme – the party reminded that a total of 68 fatalities occurred in the review period. Additionally, over the last week under review, it noted that there were 41 fatalities at an average of 6 per day. “COVID is still a killer. In addition, the younger population is also affected, with fatalities occurring in toddlers, young adults and the more mature population,” the party said.
Following the release of the party’s statement, the Ministry of Health on Saturday confirmed eight more deaths as well as 957 new cases.
ANUG also took note of Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony’s announcement last week that only persons who are hospitalized or those in environments susceptible to COVID infection will receive PCR Testing. He said the ministry will be using more rapid antigen tests for persons who have been in contact with persons who tested positive and are displaying symptoms. These tests, he stated, are 78% accurate in detecting positive cases and 98.3% effective in ruling out negative cases.
In response, ANUG said the government has done a commendable job with regard to vaccination and testing and emphasised that this should not change now. PCR testing, it noted, is the gold standard for identifying positive COVID-19 cases worldwide and as a result it urged the Ministry of Health to ensure that this service is available for all persons who may need it. On the other hand, it said antigen testing is only effective if the tests procured are of highest standard, if their storage is as per their maker’s instructions and if they are done by adequately trained personnel at the correct time. Given the lack of general knowledge in our population on when to get tested effectively and their mistrust of the antigen tests, the party voiced worry that the number of false negatives may be higher than normal if solely reliant on antigen testing. “This coupled with the pronouncement of the Minister to self-isolate without getting tested if non symptomatic can lead to an increased number of infections in the country with persons being ignorant of their true status thus mixing and mingling with others and possibly increasing the spread of this illness,” it warned. “Only with proper statistics can we strategize effectively and better plan future interventions. ANUG is reiterating the call to not decrease testing just to “spruce up” daily figures which may be trending negatively currently. Guyana and Guyanese need to be always cognizant of the true status of COVID-19 in their country,” the party further stressed.
ANUG also acknowledged the Guyana Teachers’ Union reporting of an increase in the number of staff and students who have tested positive for COVID-19, including some 381 teachers and 219 students at some 152. The party said while the Ministry of Education may try to discredit the numbers, the fact remains that with the opening of face-to-face classes, more infections in the school environment are being documented.
The party’s statement also highlighted the plight of healthcare workers, who it said are being stretched to breaking point and urged the government to do more to ease their burden, and to anticipate that the expected increased numbers of infected will add to the burden on the medical worker. “The health Sector has recently been affected by a surge in staff infections and this has put an extra strain on an already taxed workforce. Most wards in the public system are run by junior nurses and even these are in insufficient numbers,” it said, while suggesting that as an interim measure, the manpower resources can be borrowed from non-critical services in the health sector until there is better control of the situation and adequate staffing is available to resume normal services.
The party noted that based on the trend of COVID-19 orders gazetted by the current government, the administration appears determined to keep the country open and the economic drivers, both public and private sectors, operating as per normal, as “evidenced by increased business hours and less curfew time and the restarting of what are considered “non-essential” services.” ANUG, however, called on the government to start looking at a possible urgent review of the gazetted COVID-19 order, while adding that given the current increase in cases and fatalities a revision of non-essential services being offered should be done to weigh the pros and cons. The continuation of face-to-face classes should also be reviewed, it said. “The reimplementation of the shift system for essential services should be re-explored since it would limit the numbers of persons needing public transportation at any given time thus reducing increased physical contact. For those persons who can work from home, this option should be immediately implemented. All ministries should try to limit the number of staff present if not deemed essential. Only by limiting interactions and observing COVID protocols can we curtail the spread of the virus,” the party argued.
