…several teachers among new cases

A high increase of COVID-19 cases has been recorded in the Moruca sub-region in the North West District.

Today, the Ministry of Public Health reported that 12 new cases of the Coronavirus have been recorded in Guyana and reports from Santa Rosa, Moruca are that all of the new cases may be from there, a 100% increase in the infection rate in that area.

According to officials at the village, five school teachers are among those who have tested positive for the virus.In addition, two staff members of the Kumaka District Hospital are said to be among the new cases.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud, noted today that 42 tests were conducted over the past 24 hours.The 12 new cases, he said, carry the total number of confirmed cases in Guyana to 183. The new positive cases for today are from Region One, he said.Currently, there are 69 active cases of the virus in Guyana.

Recently, a boat captain from Moruca tested positive for COVID-19 and reports are that two of his close relatives are among those whose samples have returned positive.As much as 30 persons were tested within the past several days at Moruca.

Thus far, some 24 cases, including one death attributed to COVID-19, have been recorded at Moruca. A popular primary school teacher as well as a secondary school teacher were among the cases recorded last week.

A medical team from the city travelled to the area to carry out further tests of other teaching staff recently.

Santa Rosa, the most populated indigenous village in Guyana, has seen a high rate of infections within the past month.

The village council has been facing an uphill battle in its efforts to sensitise residents about taking precautions, including social distancing measures, in order to deter the spread of the virus.Many persons at Moruca have openly questioned the reality of the virus in the area.

The infections may be tied to political events as many persons aligned to a major political party have deemed the issue a political gimmick.

In recent days, persons have been breaching all emergency health measures at Moruca and reports are that residents have even confronted the police in the latter’s attempts to assist the authorities in the area.