By Indrawattie Natram
IN an effort to boost its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health, on Saturday, commissioned a state-of-the art isolation facility at the Suddie Public Hospital in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).
The $12 million facility was refurbished to accommodate 40 patients and will provide staff members with the opportunity to monitor positive cases; it will become operational within a week’s time.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, said the specialised facility is part of the ministry’s comprehensive approach to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that although Region Two has not recorded a spike in Covid-19 cases, the facility provides an option for institutional isolation.

As such, Dr. Anthony urged the regional COVID-19 task force to increase its awareness programmes within the region as part of efforts to combat the deadly disease.

Previously, the hospital was not equipped with sufficient space to house positive COVID-19 patients and so, persons were isolated at home. In this regard, Regional Health Officer, Dr. Ranjeev Singh, noted that this placed the hospital at a disadvantage since positive cases were not directly monitored and there was no guarantee that those persons were adhering to the home-isolation rules.
Dr. Singh said that the facility was outfitted with the requisite staff, inclusive of a nurse, maid, and a doctor; it is also equipped with an upgraded ventilator and oxygen to treat critical patients. Dr. Singh maintained that the region continues to record a low number of positive cases. During the last few months, there has been a significant increase in testing across the region. A mobile unit was also established to target students and residents travelling from various hotpot communities.

Additionally, Dr. Singh said the region has not recorded any re-infected patients. This newspaper understands that most of the region’s positive cases were asymptomatic and did not require hospitalisation. To date, the region has recorded 222 cases, 18 of which are active. Four deaths were also recorded in Region Two; four persons are currently in institutional isolation at the Suddie Public Hospital.

Meanwhile, the Health Minister noted that a team is currently looking at vaccination sites across the region in order to prepare for the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines. He further noted that training is ongoing for health workers who would be part of the immunisation process regionally.