– 195 households provided with relief hampers

By Jared Liddell
SINCE the 14-day lockdown in the Region One community of Kwebanna began on October 24, there has been a decline in positive cases, disclosed the village’s toshao, Paul Pierre.
Pierre told the Guyana Chronicle, on Thursday, that the move to lockdown the community came as a desperate effort to bring the virus under control and save lives.
Residents have been adhering to the guidelines of the lockdown and have been working with the village leaders.

Pierre said that since the lockdown began daily testing has shown a decline in the number of positive cases. The most recent tests confirmed 10 positive cases out of 25 tests conducted.
Since recording its first case on September 19, 2020, there has been no end in sight to the proliferation of COVID-19 in the community as cases have climbed to more than 50, with two of those persons losing their lives.

Pierre had said that the community would be going on an initial 14-day lockdown, adding that if the situation is not brought under control, there will be an extension on the lockdown measures.

He told the Guyana Chronicle, on Thursday, that it is still too early to determine if an extension on the lockdown would be necessary.
He further stated that since the medical team and the police have implemented more strict measures to stop the spread of the virus, there has been a decline in persons breaching the COVID-19 preventative measures. He further lauded the police for their support in ensuring the guidelines are upheld.

“We have seen a decline in both persons breaching the guidelines and persons testing positive for the COVID-19 virus. Persons are more knowledgeable about what COVID-19 is; about how it works and how they can work to prevent its spread. People are more cautious and people are now taking everything more serious,” said the toshao.
He further stated that, in addition to the testing, there is also sanitation of homes being done by the team. This sanitation, he said, coupled with the lockdown measures, gave the authorities a better chance to take control of the spread of the virus.

With a population of just over 900 persons, the toshao believes it is imperative that they act now to protect those persons and ensure that no more lives are lost.
Since the beginning of the lockdown and for the remaining eight days, no one is allowed in or out of the village, unless authorised by the relevant authorities. This and other measures will be supervised and implemented by regional authorities and the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

Additional, Pierre disclosed that despite the inevitable economic decline in the community, the regional administration has mobilised and distributed food and relief hampers to 195 households to ensure residents have the necessary resources to survive the lockdown period.