-CMO slams carefree behaviour of Guyanese
… nonchalance causing spike in COVID-19 cases

SOME of Guyana’s Caribbean counterparts have started to record a decline in the number of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, but the ‘nonchalant’ behaviour of some sections of the local population has exempted Guyana from experiencing this positive development.

Although the number of active cases has dropped to 63 and the country went 24 hours without recording a new case of the disease, the fact remains that Guyana has lost eleven precious lives to the disease and 139 persons have been infected to date.
Of the active cases, 61 persons are in institutional isolation, and two are being treated in the COVID Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

“One death is already too many and we have eleven. Please note that our sister CARICOM countries have begun to see a decline in their numbers, yet we have an almost runaway situation – over the past four days, twelve new cases were confirmed,” said Chief Medical Office (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, during a virtual COVID-19 update, on Wednesday.

In expressing his dissatisfaction with the “callous” behaviour of some Guyanese, Dr. Persaud said: “We continue to witness the downright nonchalance of our residents who are intent on carrying on with their laissez-faire lifestyles, seemingly unappreciative of the selfless efforts of our frontline workers who are risking their lives for our protection. Is this callous attitude going to persist until Guyana is swarmed with a high number of deaths?
“Our efforts in limiting the spread of this disease are dependent on all of us, if we do not want to end up as the PAHO (Pan American Health Organisation) model indicated, with an exponential rise in positive cases and deaths that will overwhelm our health system.”

The Ministry of Public Health using the PAHO model, had predicted that Guyana will have 1,400 cases between March and April, but that figure was later revised upward to 20,000.
And, given the prevailing situation, it would seem that Guyana is not “out of the woods” as yet, and could still record a high number of cases, if persons continue to disregard the containment measures.

Despite the odds, health authorities continue to work towards strengthening the healthcare system to respond to COVID-19 on a long-term basis. The potential and existing activities are part of the plan to have a comprehensive COVID-19 health network, whereby patients across the country’s 10 administrative regions will be able to access these services.
Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) remains the epicentre of the disease, and there are a number of communities outside of Georgetown which have recorded cases.

Among communities on the East Coast Demerara (ECD) where cases have been recorded are: Atlantic Gardens, Friendship, Golden Grove, Good Hope, Lusignan, Plaisance, and Strathspey. Among communities on the East Bank Demerara (EBD) where there were cases are: Diamond, Grove, Land of Canaan, Providence, and Timehri.

Health authorities are also placing emphasis on hinterland regions, especially now that three of the four hinterland regions have recorded cases of COVID-19. The need for surveillance in those regions is also important because Guyana’s South American neighbour, Brazil, is now the epicenter for COVID-19 in the Region of the Americas, registering more than 600 deaths in the past twenty-four hours.

Residents of Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), the region which borders Brazil, have also been advised to be watchful and careful.

“The Ministry is gravely concerned with the alarming situation emerging just across and along our borders, as our indigenous brothers and sisters are at extremely high risk for the influx of imported cases and for contracting the disease,” Dr. Persaud lamented.
Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, in her update on Monday, had also placed emphasis on the growing number of cases in hinterland regions, saying that to date three of them have recorded positive cases.

“I wish to draw your attention particularly to Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) where seven positive cases have been identified, most of these cases coming from the mining community,” she said, adding: “We are concerned, particularly because other mining communities can be affected, since our miners can transport this disease from the coastland into the interior. We recognise that our efforts in limiting the spread of this disease are dependent on this community coming fully onboard with the regional health authorities, as well as all other entities which have joined in fighting this disease.”
To date the total number of persons tested for COVID-19, on a national level, is 1,500, with the total number of negative cases being 1,361.

Although the situation has been grim, there continues to be some glimmer of hope for society, as five of the infected persons recovered from the disease and were medically cleared over the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 67.

The disease, however, remains a serious issue, not just here in Guyana, but globally as well. And, according to global statistics, there are over 5.4 million cases of COVID-19, with over 343,000 deaths. And with no approved treatment or cure, there is no assurance that persons will survive after contracting the disease. In the absence of approved medications, governments and authorities across the world have employed a number of preventive measures to contain the spread of the disease.