Guyana News

Government’s billion-dollar expenditure on the decrepit Ocean View Hotel to construct a COVID-19 hospital has attracted the scrutiny of Auditor General Deodat Sharma and a local transparency group even as the current owner Jacob Rambarran maintains silence on the terms of the controversial deal.

The votes from another 48 ballot boxes were tallied yesterday when the national recount entered its fourth day, bringing the grand total for the process to 156 of the 2,339 boxes generated from the March 2 general and regional polls.

The Carter Center can return to Guyana to observe the national recount of votes if it requests permission through the right channels and complies with the measures in place to prevent the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), according to government spokesman Joseph Harmon.

Guyanese stranded abroad are continuing to plead with the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) to grant approval for their return home.

After testing positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) more than 40 days ago, Neaz Subhan remains in isolation, where he has been waging a quiet battle against despair, while hoping to use what he is learning in order to help others.

“They treating us like total garbage.” These are the words of a 39-year-old Block 22, Wismar Linden resident, who says she and other members of her family are being discriminated against by the Region Ten community after what she believes was a case of mistaken identity led to a relative being quarantined for two weeks on suspicion that she had the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

A leading United States-based manufacturer of offshore drilling and production equipment has planned to construct a state-of-the-art tubular fabrication, maintenance and storage facility in Georgetown, although the start of the project has been delayed by current COVID-19 restrictions.

Three additional positive cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been recorded by the Public Health Ministry, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Guyana to 97.

The Guyana Police Force has arrested over 40 persons in Region Four for breaching the national 6pm to 6am curfew implemented by the Public Health Ministry in an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

With water levels rising in Region Nine from recent rainfall, the incomplete bridges at Manari and Yakarinta could pose a threat to essential supplies getting to Rupununi residents.

Officials in Linden and other communities in Region Ten have voiced their concern that those most in need did not benefit during the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) mission to distribute food hampers as part of its COVID-19 relief efforts.

The Guyana Foundation has moved to supply food and medical supplies, including masks, to residents of Santa Rosa, in Region One, who are in need of assistance due to the impact of the current CIVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure has moved a step closer to securing funds to execute works on the vulnerable Content, Mahaicony Sea Defences, which pose a threat of flooding to residents in the community and its environs, Sea and River Defence Officer Jermaine Braithwaite has said.

Members of the Guyana Police Force on Friday conducted a drug eradication exercise at Ebeni and Bartica Village, in the Upper Berbice River, where they found and destroyed more than $21 million in cannabis.

With International Nurses Day (IND) due to be observed on Tuesday, the President of the Guyana Nurses Association (GNA) is calling on the general public to show appreciation for nurses who continue to work assiduously to provide a high level of health care.

With the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases climbing daily in politically and economically downtrodden Venezuela and its citizens in “dire” need of help, the United States last week reiterated its plea to that country’s President Nicholas Maduro to allow it to take in humanitarian aid.

The Ministry of Public Health today said that the number of persons with COVID-19 has risen from 94 to 97.

The PPP today challenged a GECOM decision to livestream observation reports from the recount process which it said were riddled with `ridiculous’ claims and would lead to further delays in the process.

The Ministry of Public Health today said that it is broadening testing to find asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.

Forty-three ballot boxes from the March 2nd general elections were recounted yesterday, bringing the three-day tally to 108 of 2339 boxes and upping the pressure on GECOM to decide how to quicken the process that has been slowed by numerous queries from the incumbent APNU+AFC.