…friends, family say it’s a wakeup call for all Guyanese
By Naomi Parris
Jermaine Ifill the emergency medical technician (EMT)- who was one of two persons hospitalised in the Coronavirus Intensive Care Unit (ICU), on Tuesday morning, succumbed to the dreaded Covid-19 virus.
The 38-year-old man was a father of a one-year-old and was expecting another child. He was one of the two patients who were admitted to the Ministry’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Georgetown Public Hospital. The man’s death came as a shock to his co-workers and a wakeup call to the general public as the country continues to grapple with the pandemic.
In a Facebook post made by one of his co-workers, a very distraught man, stated that he hoped that Guyanese will take the virus seriously now that more persons were dying from the worldwide pandemic. “Rip bro…hope these [people] in Guyana take this coronavirus very serious cause up to now they not showing that they’re serious…still going in them mini bus four in a seat still partying,” the post read.
Meanwhile the man’s niece in a post to her social media account stated, “ Lord no, this can’t be happening, this a dream, God why…in just a couple of weeks you were supposed to celebrate your wedding anniversary, how can you leave your wife, your one year old son and a baby on the way.”
On March 11, Guyana recorded its first imported case of the dreaded coronavirus. A 52-year-old woman who had travel history to the United States reported to the Georgetown Public Hospital, after complaining of feeling ill. Hours after she was admitted she passed away.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr Karen Boyle in a regional breakdown of the global pandemic, said that in Region Three, 1 case had been recorded, in Region Four, 10 cases have been recorded with 1 being inconclusive. She said 1 case has been recorded in Region Six. Dr Boyle said that of the total number of confirmed cases, 4 cases have been imported while 8 are locally transmitted cases.
She added that the total number of persons tested had moved from 46 to 52, with 12 positives, 1 probable and 39 negatives. She said 43 persons are now in institutional quarantine. Dr Boyle said that of the 11 persons in isolation, 1 is hospitalised in the COVID-19 ICU. She said that the Pan-American Health Organisation’s (PAHO’s) model of projected cases in Guyana stands at 1400, and of that number the authorities will be preparing for 100 persons requiring ICU treatment, 300 isolation beds nationwide and capacity for 730 beds for institutional quarantine.
She said that, in an effort to contain and mitigate further spread of the virus, the ministry will be strengthening community and hospital surveillance as well as the rapid response surveillance team. According to the Johns Hopkins University Interactive Map there are over 823,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus globally, with the United States being the epicenter of the virus with over 175,000 confirmed cases.
