LEYLAND Archer, a 60-year-old miner, was transferred from the Mahdia Public Hospital to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) after exhibiting symptoms of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

According to a police report, Archer, a resident of Turkeyen, had turned up at the Mahdia Public Hospital, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), feeling unwell.

He was examined by the Region’s Regional Health Officer (RHO), Chrissundra Abdool, who subsequently listed Archer as a suspected case of COVID-19, after he was coughing profusely and having difficulty breathing.

Archer, who owns a mining operation at North Fork Backdam Kanawaruk, Region Eight, was flown to the GPHC, where he is being monitored by medical personnel.

While the Ministry of Public Health has confirmed that one person from Region Eight is among the 38 persons in quarantine, they did not specify the condition of the miner. Just Tuesday, a patient of the Mackenzie Hospital in Linden, was transferred to GPHC after showing signs of COVID-19. The public health ministry had confirmed that the number of local cases have moved from 31 to 33, with the COVID-19 related deaths also moving from four to five. Of the persons infected, the minister said four persons are in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and one of those persons is critical.

Globally, there are 1,210,956 cases of COVID-19, with close to 70,000 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 medication, government and authorities across the world have employed a number of preventative measures to contain the spread of the disease.