– 41 new cases

A SEVENTY-NINE-year-old man, from Region Four, died after contracting the COVID-19 virus, taking Guyana’s death toll to 155, according to the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health said that the man died while receiving care at a medical facility. Officials of the ministry have contacted all relatives and persons to facilitate contact tracing and rapid assistance to everyone who may have been exposed to the now-deceased person. Meanwhile, 41 new cases were recorded. Of those cases 23 are males and 18 females, after conducting 242 tests; this takes the total number of positive cases locally to 5,920. These cases were also distributed across Region One (four cases), Region Two (six cases), Region Three (five cases), Region Four (one case), Region Six (one case), Region Seven (one case), Region Eight (one case) and Region 10 (22 cases).

So far, 5,073 infected persons have recovered, which is an additional 29 persons over the 24-hour period. This means that there are 847 active cases of COVID-19. Many of the persons infected with the virus are said to be asymptomatic, that is, exhibiting no symptoms. However, six patients are being kept at the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the National Infectious Diseases hospital at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. There are 35 persons in institutional quarantine, 50 in institutional isolation and 636 in home isolation. The updated COVID–19 Emergency Measures (No. Nine) are in force from December 1, 2020 until December 31, 2020. They may be extended or amended by notice of the Minister of Health, after an assessment of the prevailing public health conditions of the pandemic. However, as per these current measures, all persons are required to wear face masks when leaving their homes. Physical distancing and adequate sanitisation are also important. The current curfew is 22:30 hours to 04:00 hours. Persons with symptoms of COVID-19 are asked to call the COVID-19 hotline numbers: 231-1166; 226-7480; or 180/181 for assistance.