As Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise,           Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony expressed concern today that the trend can overwhelm and overcrowd the public health care system.

He said there are almost 2000 active COVID-19 cases around the country.

“The numbers are climbing; we are seeing more people getting infected and it is also very worrying because and if we don’t manage this carefully, our hospitals can easily become overwhelmed,” the Minister said.

As it stands, there are 111 persons who are hospitalized with the virus, with 80 at the Ocean View facility. That facility, the Minister pointed out, can accommodate some 200 patients.

There are currently 33 persons in the Covid-ICU, which has a capacity of 40 patients.

The Minister said his Ministry is working to expand the ICU to include an additional ten beds and an additional fifty beds at the Ocean View facility.

‘So, it is going to be challenging going forward, as we get more and more hospitalization. We have already spoken about other contingencies where, we might have, if it becomes necessary, close some of the services at some of the hospitals and convert those hospitals solely for COVID patients, so if it becomes necessary that is what we will have to do, and of course we will consider the field hospitals as well” Dr. Anyhony said.

As a result of the worrying trend, the Minister is once again pleading with persons to take all take precautions and follow all measures.

“So I really want people to understand, that we are in a Delta surge and we are going to see more cases, unfortunately, more hospitalization and more deaths. We can prevent these things from happening by our actions,” the minister posited.

Guyana has seen more COVID-19 cases and deaths in the past 5 months that it did in the first year of the pandemic.

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