THE dreaded novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has claimed the life of 79-year-old Norbert Grant, making him the 22nd person to lose their life to the disease.
This publication was reliably informed that Grant, who lived in Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara (ECD), succumbed while receiving treatment in the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)’s COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), on Tuesday.

Grant was said to be a patient of the facility for more than two weeks, but despite the valiant efforts of doctors to save his life, he did not pull through.
In just over two months, the country has recorded 10 deaths and a consistent rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. There are over 280 active cases, with two of those cases being treated in the COVID-19 ICU.

Among those persons, who died recently, are 34-year-old Doodkumar Sookraj, who passed away on July 30; 74-year-old Milton Paul; Geerjadai Jagnarine; and 76-year-old May Portsmouth.

The Guyana Chronicle had earlier reported that the COVID-19 disease has proven to be a “real killer,” especially in cases involving persons who have co-morbidities. This is according to doctors of the GPHC. At the time, Guyana had recorded six deaths due to the COVID-19 disease, and while the loss of life is never pleasant, doctors had said most of the persons who died had co-morbidities.

In medicine, co-morbidity is defined as the presence of one or more additional conditions co-occurring with a primary condition; in the countable sense of the term, a comorbidity is each additional condition. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that 81 per cent of the persons who contract the virus will have mild symptoms, while 14 per cent will have severe symptoms, and another five per cent will need intensive care.

“Most of the people who passed have [sic] co-morbidities; some had diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and one of them even had severe pneumonia, which, without COVID-19, can also cause death… These, coupled with the complications related to COVID-19 can be dangerous,” said Head of the Department of Internal Medicine at GPHC, Dr. Genellys Camps, during a past interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

Among those whose demise were ruled co-morbid are 25-year-old Lethem schoolteacher, Donna Ambrose-Greaves; 34-year-old Abdool Khan, a resident of Bartica, who was asthmatic; and local ‘drag-racer’ Deryck Jaisingh, called ‘Mad Dog’.

Guyana’s first COVID-19 victim, 52-year-old Ratna Baboolall, was also hypertensive and a diabetic. Jermaine Ifill, an emergency medical technician (EMT), who had also succumbed to the dreaded disease, was also being treated for pneumonia.

Two other persons who died from the disease were Osa Collins, a 78-year-old resident of New Amsterdam; and 77-year-old Colonel John Percy Leon Lewis. Forty-five-year-old Lennox Williams, who also had underlying conditions, died because of COVID-19. And, a diabetic patient, 67-year-old Samuel Morris, also lost his life.

Guyana, last Thursday, took a major leap in the fight against the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, with the commissioning of its new Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, at the site of the former Ocean View Hotel. This “leap” is expected to radically improve the quality of service and infrastructure for patients and staff, as the country continues to battle COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, which may arise in the future.