— almost 50 per cent of total infected persons have recovered

GUYANA continues to record a consistent rise in the number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, with 35 new cases being recorded within the past 24 hours.
Health authorities have so far tested 6,628 persons, with 5,743 being negative and 881 positive.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, said 433 or 49.2 per cent of the infected persons have recovered thus far and have been released on home monitoring, with strict measures to prevent any further re-infection.
Despite this positive development in the fight against COVID-19, the fact remains that 30 persons have lost their lives to the disease. There are also 410 persons

under close monitoring, with 77 in institutional isolation, 333 in approved home isolation and eight persons in the COVID-ICU.
Dr. Persaud said authorities continue to be wary of the situation, as cases continue to be recorded on a daily basis. Over the period August 15-20, 218 new cases were reported; these cases came mainly from Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).

“During the last week we had the first case reported from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and a cluster of imported cases in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), with the occurrence of sporadic cases in regions One and Two,” said the CMO.
It is clear that COVID-19 remains a threat to everyone in all areas of Guyana, but within the last few days, there have been lots of concerns about testing and laboratory confirmation of COVID-19.

“I would like to assure members of the public that the test conducted by the Ministry of Health is the WHO-recommended molecular PCR test for the coronavirus. There are also available antibody rapid test which may indicate that someone was exposed to the virus but is not recommended to diagnoses the infection,” said Dr. Persaud.

He advised persons to desist from comparing these two distinctly different methods of testing, since the rapid antibody test is not approved to diagnose active COVID-19 cases, and only the molecular PCR can credibly identify infected persons.
In further sharing his advice, the CMO said: “Please note that all the materials including the nasopharyngeal swabs and the reagents used in the molecular PCR testing are approved by PAHO/WHO and meets all the national safety standards.”

ADHERE TO SAFETY GUIDLINES
The CMO encouraged persons to adhere to the safety guidelines as outlined in the COVID-19 emergency measures.
Guyana Chronicle had reported that government is mobilising some US$60M from the World Bank, OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Islamic Development Bank, in addition to a $4.5B package it had announced earlier to bolster the national response to COVID-19.

President Irfaan Ali, on Wednesday, during an address to the nation from State House said that those sums are in addition to the US$1M grant received from the Government of India.

Those, he said, were outside of other bi-lateral support received and were in the process of being received.
The President said that he spent the last few weeks consulting with many stakeholders including the private sector, communities, trade union representatives, youths, and healthcare professionals, aimed at arriving at a national holistic plan that integrates every aspect in response to COVID-19.
“So what we have seen is the closure of small business enterprises, our economy declined about four per cent at mid-year, contraction in business by more than 20 to 70 per cent, the loss of jobs, reduced workforce, reduced operations and output due to the implementation of work rotation work schedules,” the President said.

Further, the Head of State said the loss of income has led to starvation in many communities, something which is being addressed.
He noted that a holistic plan is being looked to tackle the pandemic, while also targeting measures that would create jobs, ensure the return of income, and improve spending in the economy, while keeping the population in good health.