– Mayor says residents need to be careful with persons with recent travel history with Aranka

THE township of Bartica has implemented a sanitisation initiative as a precautionary measure to keep its residents safe from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The initiative included the use of a fogging machine filled with a sanitisiing solution, and attached to a tractor which drives around the township and facilitates the spraying of the solution, in the atmosphere, and on buildings, on a frequent basis, so as to keep the environment healthy.

Thus far, there are no active cases in the green town. However, due to its close contact with Aranka, which is the epicenter for the virus in the region, the Mayor of the town, Gifford Marshall, said that they have to do their best to ensure that the people remain safe and protected.

Marshall explained that the one reported case that was recorded in Bartica, the person had travel history with Aranka which has so far confirmed 15 cases of the virus. As such, Marshall was asking persons to be cautious.

“I encourage all residents to please adhere to the precautionary measures. We have heard that Aranka is the epicenter of the region, and we have a number of persons who travel to Aranka and who’re working in the interior. We are pleading with them to please adhere to the Public Health precautionary measures, and we are pleading with them to take this virus seriously because the last thing we want is for them to come out of the interior and bring this virus to their friends and families,” Marshall said.

He noted, too, that, despite limited resources, the council was rallying behind the Regional Health Emergency Committee and, in particular, the doctors and nurses in Bartica.

“Since we would have had our first case here in Guyana, and we would have seen the Ministry of Health putting out their advisories, we have implemented a number of initiatives all aimed at safeguarding our citizens. Some of those measures are reducing the market hours and also enforcing basic precautionary measures like the washing of our hands because sinks were installed; we also enforced that persons must be wearing mask before entering the market and also we had a general sanitisation of the market… Where our nurses are concerned, because of persons beginning to discriminate because of where they work, persons thinking that they would carry the virus around, we provided transportation for them and also we commit to the safety of our sanitation workers who work around the clock,” he shared.

The council also made available to the Regional Health Emergency Committee, the facilities to support the capacity of the health department in fighting COVID-19.
Marshall said, Wednesday last, with the support of Farm Supplies, “we were able to do an entire sanitisation of central Bartica and we’re still to get done, the Potaro Road, Four and Five Miles Housing Schemes, Agatash, Dagg Point and Byderabo. In the coming days we will be going into those areas and sanitise. In addition, we initiated with the Health Committee, that all public buildings and spaces are also sanitised. Thus far, we did the Police Station and the Bartica Hospital, and we will continue with other government buildings to ensure it’s safe for their workers… The whole idea is to ensure our people are safe and doing what we have to do to ensure that they are protected. We want to encourage everyone to adhere to the public health advisory and precautionary measures.”

He said that he is confident that if everyone adheres to the precautionary measure, the curve will flatten.