Gov’t to set up COVID screening units in communities

IN addition to the setting up of regional COVID-19 hotlines across the country, steps are being taken to operationalise COVID-19 screening units at “hot spots” where significant number of reports come from, according to officials from the Health and Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC), which is coordinating the country’s response to the pandemic.

The proactive measures are being implemented to reduce escalation on the National COVID-19 hotline, as well as to ensure that the HEOC is able to reach those persons who need screening most. “We would not be waiting now for you to call; we would be going to the communities to practise active surveillance, to identify possible cases and give them the necessary attention or assistance that is needed,” noted HEOC Deputy Director, Dr. Leston Payne.

Dr. Payne was at the time speaking on an episode of “COVID Conversations”, organised by the Ministry of Public Health to update the public on measures being taken to protect citizens, and curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which first came to Guyana on March 11.

RESPONSE TIME

Responding to questions on the HEOC’s response time to calls of suspected coronavirus cases incoming on the national COVID-19 hotline, Dr. Payne acknowledged that several factors affect how fast a response team is sent to a location after a call is received.

Noting that a triage system is in place to take care of that, Dr. Payne said:

“The response team works on a 24-hour basis, but we identify the most critical of cases that come in, and we prioritise them. Once we would’ve identified someone who needs an immediate clinical evaluation and possible transferal to a COVID institution, that is prioritised with the utmost sense of urgency.” He further noted: “For most persons, we get to them within half-an-hour,  but it is an integrated approach, based on the clinical and hemodynamic stability of the patient, that would determine who we will visit first. But we want the public to rest assured that very soon, every region would have, at a minimum, three response teams to respond to any COVID-19-related issue.”

Dr. Payne reassured his audience that notwithstanding the challenges, the HEOC Response Unit is doing its best to tend to citizens and fight spread of the virus, which has already been responsible for over 117, 000 deaths globally.

“Some might feel we are not responding to them in a timely manner, but there’s a protocol that we have in place. The unit we send out is in keeping with the information we receive from the persons calling in,” the Doctor explained. The COVID-19 hotline was set up to allow for citizens who suspect that they may have contracted the virus, or are exhibiting virus-related symptoms, to be able to call, so that a response team could be sent to their home, as persons were previously being advised not to visit the hospital if they suspect that they may have the virus. This was due to the virus being easily spread through contact with infected surfaces contaminated through coughing or sneezing by infected persons.

HOTLINE CHALLENGES

However, the hotline has seen its fair share of challenges, including reports of prank calls. During the show, Dr. Payne explained that initially, a large volume calls on the hotline were related to COVID-19 sensitisation issues, and not to report suspected cases.

“The hotline was being bombarded with COVID sensitization matters like, ‘What is COVID?’ and ‘How can I protect myself and my family?’ ‘What home remedies can I use?’” Dr. Payne related.

To remedy the situation, the HEOC embarked on a widespread sensitization campaign.

“What we did was to strategically start to sensitise specific target groups. We flood social media with COVID sensitisation materials, started to mount billboards, and when we started to analyse afterwards, the calls coming in were not to have COVID-sensitive information, but to seek assistance,” Dr. Payne said.

However, there was still the issue of calls coming to the hotline from the various regions, with the HEOC being based in Georgetown. The majority of the calls are from those regions where confirmed cases of the virus were eventually established, including Region Four (Demera-Mahaica), which is currently the country’s epicenter for confirmed cases, as well as Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

To assist the situation, Dr. Payne said a  decision was taken to set up regional hotlines. Dr. Payne confirmed that Regions One (Barima-Waini), Three, Six and 10 already have hotlines, while Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) have also  set up their own COVID-19 hotlines.

“We are going to start decentralising the rapid-response approach. So if an individual calls from location ‘x’, we mobilise resources closest to that region or to that location so that the person can be seen in a timely manner,” Dr. Payne said. HEOC Director, Dr. Colin James further explained that with limitations on travel, it is vitally important that the regions are equipped to handle the necessary cases for COVID-19 patitents, and therefore need individual hotlines to which citizens in the respective regions can reach out to. “In the initial phase, we had calls coming in from the outlier regions, like Six and Seven, and it’s not easy for us to go there to actually respond to that, especially during the lock- down. So, now, when someone calls and identifies their region, we can provide them with the numbers to contact their specific regions,” Dr. James said.

 

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