AS of July 12, Guyana recorded six new positive cases of coronavirus from 86 tests that were carried out, which takes the total number of confirmed cases to 297.

Of the 297, 154 persons recovered and 17 lost their lives, leaving 126 active cases in the country.
The 17th death was recorded on Friday; however, there has been a notable recovery rate.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 80 per cent of the persons, who become infected, recover from the disease without needing special treatment, and for the majority – especially for children and young adults – illness due to COVID-19 is generally minor.
WHO also said around one in every five persons, who are infected with COVID-19, develop difficulty in breathing and require hospital care. People who are aged over 60 years, and people who have underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease or hypertension are among those who are at greater risk.

Even though there are recoveries, the numbers are continuously rising and Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr. Karen Boyle, had said that citizens must cooperate in order to keep the numbers down.
In expressing her dissatisfaction with the situation, Dr. Boyle asked Guyanese, “are we really serious about returning to normalcy when we openly flout all the guidelines that have been outlined for our protection? Are we saying that we are uncaring about our life and that of others around us? Where has our appreciation for life disappeared to? It is unfair to our healthcare workers, ten of whom have become ill and have had to battle for their lives with COVID-19 and you know what, this was totally unnecessary but for your carelessness.”
She pleaded with persons to consider their actions and envisage that their life could drastically change and end in fatality. “Avoid the COVID-19 trauma and cooperate fully with all who are working collaboratively with the Ministry of Public Health to contain the spread of this fatal disease, in every community”.

Dr. Boyle reminded repatriated nationals that they are equally involved in the fight, and they ought to be cognisant of their agreement prior to their departure from overseas.

Such persons were reminded that, even though their PCR- test results might have been negative prior to their departure, they still have to cooperate with the health officials and provide accurate information on their arrival in Guyana.
COVID-19 remains a serious issue not just here in Guyana, but globally as well, and, according to global statistics, there are 11.3 million cases of COVID-19, with over 532,000 deaths. And, with no approved treatment or cure, there is no assurance that persons will survive after contracting the disease. In the absence of approved medications, governments and authorities across the world have employed a number of preventive measures to contain the spread of the disease.

“Our surveillance unit is tasked with following up on every single repatriate, checking in daily by phone for early detection of signs and symptoms of the disease. This requires, among other things, the daily checking of body temperatures and hence all repatriates are required to bring thermometers with them. Kindly support our effort by reminding your family members to come armed with a thermometer,” Dr. Boyle advised.
According to the existing statistics, Regions One, Four, Seven and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) continue to have most of the cases.
Regions One and Seven, in particular, have seen a rapid increase in the number of cases being recorded. Recently, this newspaper reported that COVID-19 claimed the life of Abdool Khan, a miner from Bartica, in Region Seven.

The spike of cases in Regions One and Seven have since seen authorities implementing a lockdown of those areas, with restrictions of travel in and out of the areas at reference.

Health authorities had found that a large number of positive cases in these regions have no signs and symptoms, so they are what is known as asymptomatic. This means that these persons can transmit the disease, and the infected persons will not even know that they are sick, because there is no sign.

Medical teams were dispatched to Aranka and surrounding mining areas in Region Seven, as well as Moruca in Region One, to conduct mass testing to tackle the sudden spike of COVID-19 cases.