-property to be transformed into National Sanatorium

GOVERNMENT has signed an order, which allows the state to acquire the property of the former Ocean View Hotel Ltd.

The order, which was signed by Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams and published in the Official Gazette, clears the way for government to acquire the property for the purpose of constructing a National Sanatorium.

A sanatorium is defined as a medical facility for long-term illnesses, most typically associated with the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century, before the discovery of antibiotics.

In this case, the former Ocean View Hotel will be transformed into a sanatorium for the care and treatment of persons suffering the deadly Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease and other related illnesses. Guyana has so far recorded 82 cases of COVID-19, inclusive of nine deaths. And, as the cases continue to rise, government saw it fit to designate a special facility for the treatment and care of infected persons.

Progress is being made on this front, as Minister Hastings, through the Acquisition of Lands for Public Purposes (National Sanatorium) Order 2020, gave permission to the Commissioner of Lands and Surveys, together with his agents, servants or workmen to enter on the land for surveying or otherwise examining such land with a view to the acquisition of the whole or part thereof for public work.
Government will acquire both the building and the land it sits on, which measures some 5.738 acres.

The idea to establish a special COVID-19 facility was put to the government by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) after a new study found that Guyana could have as many as 20,000 COVID-19 cases in a month.

The Ministry of Public Health, using the PAHO/WHO method, had initially projected 1,400 cases, but a recent study done by PAHO/WHO found that with every case, another 2.5 persons will be affected within five days if there is no partial lockdown, and if persons do not exercise effective social distancing.

“That 2.5, if I infect you, you infect 2.5 others and they infect another 2.5. Within a month we will get over 20,000; it’s a simple model but it makes a lot of sense,” said PAHO/WHO Resident Representative Dr. William Adu-Krow in a recent News Room report.

And should this happen, Dr. Adu-Krow said, five per cent or 1000 of those infected would need intensive care, and Guyana simply does not have the capacity for this. While the projected cases have since been revised downwards, the issue remains a serious concern for the nation.

Subsequent to PAHO’s recommendation, Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force, Prime Minister Nagamootoo, had confirmed that the proposal was examined by the task force, and the Ocean View Hotel was identified as the building in which the hospital will be housed.

“Work is ongoing to make this into a dedicated facility for incubation, isolation, quarantine or medical attention for persons who confirmed positive for the disease,” said Nagamootoo in a past report.

The Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence had said that the Ocean View facility will have 300 beds for critical patients. Chief Executive Officer of the COVID-19 Task Force, Joseph Harmon was reported as saying that the facility will be set up for the long-term.
“Going forward, we may not have pandemics, we may have epidemics and so on but going forward, that is going to be a facility for this purpose,” said Harmon.

Stabroek News reported that following questions about the safety of the structure and its potential vulnerability to overtopping from the sea, Harmon stated that he believed that works are also ongoing in the sea defence area just beyond the structure.

According to report, he said he could not recall any recent overtopping of the defence that affected that structure. “I think that at the end of it, in a very short space of time, we will have an A-1 facility where we can be able to say to the world that this is what we are doing for Guyanese who are affected by this COVID virus,” Harmon said.