THE novel coronavirus has claimed three lives within the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 98.
Authorities said the recent victims were a 41-year-old woman and 64-year-old male from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), and a 58-year-old male from Region One (Barima-Waini). Those persons died recently while receiving care at a local medical facility.

The Ministry of Health expressed condolences to the families of the three victims and pledged to make every effort to provide all the necessary support during this difficult time.
Health authorities have so far tested 15,360 persons, with 12,068 proving negative, and 3,292 positive.
While 2,084 persons have recovered from this disease, 98 persons have died and there are 1,113 active cases which include 159 persons in institutional isolation, 939 in home isolation, and 15 in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Considering these numbers, persons were encouraged to take extra precaution because there is no approved cure or specific treatment for the disease. Guyanese were also reminded to observe the protocols established in the COVID-19 emergency measures.
Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, has said 200 inmates of the Lusignan Prison who tested positive for COVID-19 are no longer infectious and can be reintegrated into the prison population.

More than 290 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 at the facility. More than 90 others are still being monitored closely.
“From a medical point of view, since they are no longer infectious, we can return them to Lusignan. That is something that the personnel at the isolation centre and the prison authority would have to discuss so that all these persons who have been discharged can go back to the prison setting,” Minister Anthony said.
A screening and testing campaign for COVID-19 was initiated in the prison after two inmates initially tested positive for the disease. Since then, the Ministry, along with the Guyana Prisons Service, has been working to put measures in place to guard against the spread of the disease.

Authorities have said that cases are being detected because more tests are being done. Sample- taking was also increased across the country because the authorities believed that many cases were going “under the radar”.

This suspicion had prompted the 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).
“We are sending out more kits, so there will be an increase in sample collection… the testing itself has components; one is sample collection, and then there is the processing of samples,” said Dr. Anthony, in a recent report.