…fully equipped; ready for use if necessary

By Clifford Stanley

THE Regional Health Authorities in Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice) have reported the completion of a COVID-19 quarantine centre in the Region and have also reported that an Isolation centre should be ready for use by early next week.

Regional Health Officer Dr. Desmond Nicholson disclosed that the quarantine centre has been established at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, using the Health Centre at Experiment. The quarantine facility can accommodate 10 females and 11 males.
The persons who will be accommodated in the centre are those who are suspected of having contact with persons infected by the virus or might have visited places where there were positive COVID-19 cases.

“The quarantine centre is intended to be a holding place not for persons who are sick but persons that we suspect might be at risk,” Dr Nicholson said.
He added: “It is possible for suspected cases to be quarantined at home, but if for some reason, perhaps the person’s social situation at home, this is not feasible, then we will take such persons into the quarantine centre.”

He disclosed that the quarantine centre, like others countrywide, is fully stocked with all of the necessary medicines, personal protective equipment and signage that are necessary to ensure that the residents who may be received there are able to benefit from optimal attention.

Patients will be provided with meals and clean and disinfected linen and the staff assigned there have also been provided with the protective equipment necessary for them to do their jobs without fear of themselves becoming infected.

Dr Nicholson disclosed that medical services will be provided by nurses on a twenty four hour basis and a Rapid Response Team comprising of doctors will be on standby at the Regional Health Emergency Operations Centre at Fort Wellington to visit the facility if and when persons in quarantine begin to exhibit symptoms that are suspected to be COVID-19-related

He disclosed also that accommodation has been provided for the Police who will maintain a permanent presence there once the admission of patients commences.
With respect to the isolation facility at Mahaicony for confirmed cases, Dr Nicholson disclosed that there were some issues that needed to be looked at in terms of sufficient separation between the male and female patients and between those who are infected and those who are highly suspected of being infected.

“We have the facilities for three wards and we are looking at the establishment of a fourth ward so that we can have accommodation for five males and five females. There are no major problems here and we believe now that it is possible that we can have four isolation wards ready in a matter of days if we have an upsurge of cases and we have to keep Region 5 patients here within the Region”, he said.