GUYANA has lost yet another life to the dreaded novel coronavirus (COVID-19), taking the death toll to 56.
The Guyana Chronicle understands that the victim was an 83-year-old woman from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica). Authorities said the woman died while receiving treatment at a local health facility.

The Ministry of Health expressed condolences to the family of the deceased and committed to providing all the necessary support during this difficult time.
Authorities have since contacted all relatives and persons to facilitate contact tracing and rapid assistance to everyone who might have been exposed to the victim.
Guyana has so far recorded 1,843 cases of COVID-19 with 41 of those cases being recorded in the past 24 hours. But 1,215 of those persons have since recovered, while 56 persons have lost their lives. Of the remaining cases, 55 persons are in institutional isolation and 512 are in home isolation, while 15 persons are being treated in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The emergence of asymptomatic cases had prompted authorities to distribute more sample kits across the country, especially to regions where the infection rate is high. Most of the cases have so far been recorded in Regions One (Barima-Waini), Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).

Increased sample-taking had resulted in a backlog which authorities sought to alleviate by sending 500 samples to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARHPA). The results of some of those samples have already been received, and the country has sent an additional 138 samples for testing, said Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly-discovered coronavirus. Most people, who fall sick with COVID-19, will experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment.
The WHO had said that 81 per cent of persons, who contract COVID-19, will have mild symptoms, while 14 per cent will have severe symptoms and five per cent will need intensive care.

But the COVID-19 disease has proven to be a “real killer”, especially in cases involving persons who have co-morbidities such as diabetes and hypertension, among other things.

Dr. Anthony said clinicians around the world are working double time to ensure that their patients, who have underlying conditions, are safe during this time.
“We need to help by educating persons… they need to understand that once they have underlying conditions… they would have a greater risk of having the more severe form of the disease if they get COVID-19,” said Dr. Anthony, in an invited comment on Saturday.
In speaking about some of the measures in place at local clinics, the health minister said they have been promoting sanitisation, the wearing of masks and adherence to social distancing protocols.