Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony has issued a warning about social gatherings and shopping trips as the country heads into another Christmas season with rising COVID-19 cases.

While encouraging persons to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the Minister of Health said citizens should not get complacent as they gather with relatives and friends for the holidays.

“Christmas is upon us and I know a lot of people want to go shopping and socializing, and unfortunately if they do that and they are exposed to people with whether it’s Delta or Omicron or whatever variant that is circulating, they are going to spread it. And when people socialize, especially if they are drinking, they are obviously not wearing masks and will be in close proximity to each other and these are ideal conditions to spread”, Dr. Anthony said during his COVID-19 update today.

Guyana continues to see new COVID-19 cases in every region. While the pace of infections might have slowed, there are still worrying trends of infection especially among the unvaccinated. In the past two weeks alone, the country has seen more than 700 new COVID-19 cases. While the number is much lower when compared to the same period in the past few months, Health Officials are continuing to urge citizens to take all precautions to fight the virus.

“People must understand that their personal actions can lead to an increase in transmission and an increase in cases that we have in the country. However, if people take precautions then we can all begin to take control of the number of cases that we have in Guyana”, he said.

Dr. Anthony said that based on trends being observed internationally, it is inevitable that the new variant of the virus will reach every country. Already, Trinidad and Tobago has recorded its first case of the new variant, and neighbouring Brazil has recorded several cases of the new variant. In most cases, the effects are very mild, according to Doctors.

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