– Health Minister says monitoring continues

ST. CUTHBERT’S MISSION recorded 113 COVID-19 recoveries as of Friday, and Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, anticipates that the situation will significantly improve in the coming days.

The minister who was at the time providing a COVID-19 update, also informed that 11 symptomatic patients were being closely monitored by health officials.
The indigenous community located on the Mahaica River in Region Four went into a fourteen-day lockdown from November 7, 2020, after several teachers and healthcare workers tested positive for the deadly virus. The community began testing residents on November 1, 2020 when one member who travelled out of the community was tested positive.
Minister Anthony disclosed that rapid testing had revealed a total of 269 cases in the community.
“We had a number of cases there and we have been monitoring the situation. We have staff on the ground today [and] we recorded 156 cases which came down from the 269 that it was a couple of days ago, and that is because we have been monitoring people. And once they meet the ten-day asymptomatic deadline we discharged them, so we are happy that we are making progress in terms of discharges,” stated Minister Anthony.

The Health Minister further added that the medical team was monitoring 11 persons who were symptomatic in order to ensure that their condition did not worsen or they did not spread the virus to other residents.

“We are paying closer attention to them than the persons who are asymptomatic because we don’t want anything to go wrong with them, but just in case if their situations worsen we would be able to bring them out to the hospital,” the minister said.

Minister Anthony disclosed that most of the 269 persons that tested positive for the virus were asymptomatic. They were not aware that they had contracted the virus until being tested.
Although the lockdown ended on Friday, Minister Anthony said it was too early to state whether a second lockdown in the community will be implemented.
Further, he noted that, given the current trend, he anticipated that in ten days’ time the current numbers would drop significantly.

Minister said, too, that progress was being made in the fight against COVID-19, and the ministry intended to continue engaging the village council to ensure that there was not a second surge in cases.

Toshao, of St Cuthbert’s, Beverly Clenkian, in a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, had stated that persons had been much more compliant with the COVID-19 preventative guidelines.

“More persons have been following the COVID-19 preventative guidelines since the lockdown began, so I’m glad for that. And I know that if the persons continue to follow them, we would be able to control the situation here in St. Cuthbert,” the toshao said.

She said that she believed that with the compliance the situation in the community can quickly come under control.