Education Ministry closes schools for two weeks from March 16
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Education

The Ministry of Education has advised that schools will be closed for two weeks from Monday March 16, 2020.

The ministry noted in a release that the measure will be reassessed “during this period and further guidance will be provided.”

Anyone with concerns can contact the ministry on 226-1175or the Public Health hotline on 227-4986 between 08:00hrs and 16:00hrs or 624-3067 between 1630-20:00hrs.

There has been no new suspected case of the 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19) since Guyana recorded its first case of the virus on Wednesday, said Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr. Karen Boyle said on Thursday.

A Guyanese woman with travel history to the United States had died at the Georgetown Public Hospital, on Wednesday, from the dreaded coronavirus. The 52-year-old Guyanese woman lived at Good Hope on the East Coast of Demerara and reportedly only recently returned from New York with family members.

President David Granger, in a statement on Wednesday, confirmed that the case of the 52-year-old woman was the first “imported case” of the COVID-19 in Georgetown. President Granger said the woman arrived in the country on March 5, 2020 and was presented to the public health system on March 10. At that time, she was found to have uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension, but subsequently died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) at 08:00hrs on March 11.

Health authorities had said the woman also had flu-like symptoms and travelled from a “high risk” country, so that prompted them to conduct tests for the COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), on Wednesday.
A clinical sample was, as such, collected and sent at 10:00hrs on March 11, 2020 to the National Reference Laboratory where laboratory tests confirmed the diagnosis at approximately 17:00hrs.

Dr. Boyle has since confirmed that persons, who were in close contact with the victim, have been quarantined and are being monitored by medical professionals. She was unable to say how many persons have been quarantined, but noted that the health authorities were in the process of “counting.”

Those persons will, however, be quarantined for the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s recommended 14-day period. The DCMO confirmed that no one else has shown any signs or symptoms of the virus.

The Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital (DBSH) has also quarantined doctors, nurses and attendants who were in contact with the victim.

Although the victim died at GPHC, the Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital (DBSH) had found that the patient made a brief stop at their facility before going on to GPHC.

 

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