…PM Nagamootoo calls on Opposition, civil society to be part of national response to COVID-19

PRIME Minister Moses Nagamootoo said Tuesday that the government will be reaching out to Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo, and other civil society leaders to be a part of the country’s national plan to fight the spread of the corona/COVID-19 virus.

Nagamootoo is the head of the Ministerial Task Force which is coordinating the country’s response against the virus. Guyana recorded its first case of the virus on March 11, and has since recorded three additional confirmed cases. “I ask them all to join me as I urge our nation to remain calm but alert, and to follow all public health and other advisories. For me, this is not a partisan, political or exclusively governmental task; all of us, the entire nation, are in it together,” Nagamootoo said when the Task Force held a press conference at the National Communications Network.

The Task Force was ordered by President David Granger. “President Granger has issued a direction for national response to COVID-19 as an emergency that threatens the security and lives of our people, to coordinate and oversee the measures being taken by various frontline agencies and give them the support that they need,” Minister Nagamootoo said.
Officially declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), coronavirus has been sweeping the globe since the first outbreak originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and has since been responsible for over 7500 deaths. The Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

According to WHO statistics, as of last Tuesday, the world had thus far recorded 184, 976 confirmed cases. “The whole world is waging war against this virus to stop it and save lives. If not, all of us will lose loved ones and be held accountable,” Minister Nagamootoo said.

Noting that the country has been preparing for some time now in case the virus came to these shores, the prime minister said: “Our preparations to deal with this virus started in January of this year, and a National Health Emergency Centre has been set up. We have moved from preparation to response. Since the confirmed reported case, the president, under provision of Public Health Ordinance, ordered several agencies to implement a table of measures to contain the spread of the virus, and save people from further exposure and infection.”

Initally, the Task Force comprised several Government Ministries, including Public Health, Finance, Public Infrastructure, Education, Foreign Affairs, Citizenship, Public Security, Communities, Legal Affairs, and Natural Resources.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Minister Nagamootoo was joined at the head table by Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, and Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry; as well as Commissioner of Police Leslie James; Director-General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) Kester Craig; and Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Egbert Field.

At the meeting, the public was apprised that the decision was taken to close the country’s borders to avoid the importation of further infected patients into the country.
Guyana’s first confirmed case of the virus was a 52-year-old woman who recently travelled to Guyana with family members from the United States.

It was also announced that the government, through the Ministry of Public Health, will be implementing mandatory quarantines for persons who are either confirmed, suspected or probable patients of the virus.

Those quarantined will be accommodated at four facilities established across the country for that purpose. Public schools have also been closed for two weeks.