The Public Health Ministry has announced that Guyana has recorded 11 new cases of the coronavirus disease in the past 24hrs.
The new cases take to 150 the total number of confirmed cases with 72 of those cases still active. A total of 67 persons have recovered with the number of deaths remaining at 11.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud said persons need to still call the COVID-19 hotline if they have signs or symptoms of the disease.
More than 35% of the persons tested positive in Guyana had no symptoms.
During his daily update today, the Chief Medical Officer said he is also concerned about acts of discrimination against persons who may have tested positive for the disease or who have relatives that might have tested positive.
“We have received reports of acts of discrimination in some of the subdistricts; we ask in this crisis, that instead of shunning your fellow citizens that you use this opportunity to come together as one and be tolerant. Residents of the Communities in Region 1, the worst scenario will be your refusal to cooperate with the medical authorities and the guidelines. This fight is for everyone and so I ask you to act responsibly; if a death occurs, then you should support the bereaved family, if someone recovers, you should reach out and give your total support”, Dr. Persaud said.
The Public Health Ministry has also now moved to set up permanent testing sites in Regions 6 and 10.
“As you know, in order to effectively uncover those who would have come into contact with a confirmed case, the Ministry of Public Health has initiated two permanent sites in Region #4, Region #6, the site is up and running at Port Mourant and in Region #10, the Upper Demerara Hospital (Wismar Hospital) is ready”.
He also called on persons to cooperate with the medical personnel during testing.
Dr. Persaud said “I understand that this process is somewhat uncomfortable, however we beg you to cooperate despite the discomfort. You will appreciate that if the process is not performed accurately, and the sample is insufficient, we can have the wrong results. So, we ask all of you to give the Testing Team your full cooperation”.
There is growing concern about the situation in Guyana’s bordering regions with Brazil and Venezuela. Although the numbers in some of those regions remain low, the health officials are worried about the possible increase in imported cases as some persons seek to cross over into Guyana at illegal crossings.
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