–as COVID-19 cases continue to climb

THE South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) has taken a stern decision to lock down communities in the South Rupununi as part of efforts to curtail the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The SRDC, which represents 21 indigenous communities of the South Rupununi, has taken a collective decision to lock down all South Rupununi communities, effective July 15, 2020.

According to a press statement from the Council, its constituent villages made this decision to protect communities from further spread of COVID-19, in light of test results confirming five positive cases in three of those villages.
Since the first confirmed case of the disease here in Guyana in March of this year, the SRDC has worked with villages to protect residents.
“The inadequate healthcare systems and supplies in our region leave our people extremely vulnerable to disease, particularly this novel coronavirus,” said the council.

Immediately following the outbreak, the council blocked several illegal crossings along the Guyana-Brazil border, and started conducting regular border patrols.
“We have been monitoring entry and access into our villages and roads, and we are working with local security and health personnel to put in place proper measures to protect our communities,” said the council.

The SRDC has attended meetings with the Ministry of Health and the Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) COVID-19 Task Force to provide ground information and assist as best it could with the COVID-19 response.
The council has issued press releases and written formal letters to the appropriate authorities requesting that mining activities in Region Nine be suspended; that the government provide assistance to monitor border crossings and prevent entry; and that access to medical equipment and supplies in communities become better.

To date, the council said they have received little to no response to their concerns and pleas for assistance, and at this time, their greatest threat remains the vast open border which the South Rupununi shares with Brazil, a country which is laden with cases of COVID-19.
“Indeed, our efforts have been stymied by the Government’s continued refusal to remove mining from its list of essential services, and by its interventions on behalf of miners, which have allowed them to continue to traverse our territory, threatening and challenging our gatekeepers,” the council lamented.

Government, however, took a decision on Thursday to halt mining in high-risk areas in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), where there has been a consistent rise in cases.
The council nonetheless says that mining should be omitted from the list of essential businesses because the effects of COVID-19 are real and dangerous.

“We have seen cases in which it takes almost a week just for sick patients to be tested even after reporting COVID-like symptoms, in addition to taking several days to receive test results. We note with concern that after the announcement of the confirmed cases in our communities, it took more than 48 hours before patients were transported to the hospital in Lethem,” said the council.

The council also bemoaned the “inadequate supply” of testing kits for Region Nine, which at this time only allows for persons with severe symptoms to be tested. This failure to immediately test any patients reporting COVID-like symptoms, promptly return test results, and expeditiously transport confirmed COVID-19 patients to the hospital heightens the risk of increased community transmission, said the council.
The body commended its leaders for “making much” with the limited resources at their disposal, but lamented that there are a few “selfish individuals” who have greatly compromised villages by taking advantage of the open border, and using illegal border-crossings.
“It is with all of this in mind that the SRDC and our 21 communities have made the collective decision to go into a lockdown. We have made arrangements with Village Councils to have systems in place to facilitate the delivery of food and other essential items to all of our communities, and attempted to facilitate essential travel into the Marudi mines,” said the council.
For the South Rupununi villages, all measures, including the 6 pm to 6 am curfew will remain in place until further notice.