Three unvaccinated men have succumbed to COVID and 105 new cases of the virus were reported yesterday.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony yesterday said that home testing will not be accepted for international travel.
Following Tuesday’s COVID-19 update, Anthony had mentioned that self-testing may soon be an option. However, yesterday, the minister noted that although it may be helpful at a local level, at-home testing will not be accepted at an international level.
Details on the latest fatalities follow: 
In a post on the Department of Public Information’s Facebook page, Anthony stated, “Someone having a home kit and doing a test at home does not necessarily qualify or meet the requirements for travel. No country right now is accepting anybody who has tested themselves at home for travel and we are not changing our guidelines to accept that.”
The minister added that certain requirements, such as an antigen test done by an approved institution is mandatory for travel internationally and as such, at-home testing does not fulfil those requirements.
“Self-testing is a concept that you have in different countries, our travel requirements are very explicit, we are accepting an antigen test from a reputable institution where it’s done or a PCR test. There is something now called a rapid PCR and we are also accepting that, so any of these three tests we are accepting.”
He added that self-testing is just a way to inform persons who are concerned of their status. He also advised persons who will be doing the self-test that if they are found positive, they should report it to the Ministry of Health. “With self-testing it’s a way of just, if you have any concerns, to check to see if you are positive or negative. First of all, I think not a lot of people would be doing it, and those who would be doing it, I think they would be responsible enough, if they test positive, report it to our surveillance system.”
Within the past 24 hours, 105 new cases have been confirmed, which brings the total number of active cases in Guyana to 1,277. In addition three more persons have died, pushing the death toll to 1,202. In addition, 76 persons are hospitalised, with 59 at the Ocean View facility and eight in the intensive care unit.
With the ongoing adult inoculation programme, 429,287 persons have taken the first dose which represents 83.7% of the population, while 323, 031 adults have taken the second dose, which is equivalent to 63% of the population.
The minister pointed out that a constant battle is being fought with the inoculation of the 12-17 age group, where 33,217 (45.5% of the adolescent population) of adolescents have taken the first dose while 23,840 (32.7% of the adolescent population) have taken the second dose.
Anthony also informed that the booster doses are gradually increasing, as 47,189 doses have been administered, however, he has expressed the desire to have improvement in that area.
