…health minister says arrangements being made for genetic analysis

SINCE the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), in collaboration with a team from the University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Campus, tested 10 COVID-19 samples from Guyana early this year, no additional samples have been sent abroad to help analyse whether variants of the coronavirus are in Guyana.
Responding to a question from the Guyana Chronicle during his daily COVID-19 update, the Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, noted that CARPHA had suspended the genomic sequencing it was conducting on COVID-19 positive samples for some time. This suspension came after the agency tested Guyana’s 10 samples in February.
Genomic sequencing is a type of genetic analysis used to determine whether COVID-19 samples are the ‘normal’ strain or variants. According to the BBC, it is not unusual for viruses to mutate, and more often than not, mutations are usually insignificant. Sometimes, however, viruses do mutate into ‘stronger’ or more advantageous forms of the virus.

This was the case with the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the virus that causes the disease COVID-19) which mutated into three variants of concern thus far. These are the P1/Brazil variant, the B.1.1.7/ United Kingdom (UK) variant, and the B.1.351/ South Africa variant. The advantage that these variants have is that they are more transmissible (meaning that more persons can become infected) and in some cases, able to bypass the immune response produced by the COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Anthony has emphasised, on numerous occasions, that Guyana does not have the capacity to conclusively identify newer variants (or strains) because the country is unable to perform genomic sequencing. But, he has not rejected the possibility that the variants may be in Guyana.
However, he said: “They (CARPHA) have since notified us that they’ll be able to do some additional sequencing and once we put all the arrangements in place, we’ll be able to send samples to them.” Additionally, he related that Guyana has been trying to engage bodies in the United States so that additional samples can be analysed.
The Guyana Chronicle reported that the country will be able to test more positive COVID-19 samples through an arrangement brokered with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

In an invited comment Dr. Anthony told this newspaper that local health authorities have been attempting to intensify surveillance efforts to detect whether these variants are present in the country. A strategy has been to obtain all positive samples detected in the border communities and send those samples to the Icahn School of Medicine so that the genetic analysis can be conducted.
On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony said that the local authorities were still trying to finalise details of getting samples to the US.
Even though Guyana has not been able to identify and confirm the presence of these variants, the health minister highlighted: “Variants can pose challenges, especially those variants that have an increased transmissibility… and in some cases with these variants, even if you had the infection in the past, you can be re-infected.”

To protect against the variants, and also from the ‘normal’ coronavirus, Dr. Anthony emphasised that simple public health measures can be used. These include wearing a mask, washing hands, avoiding large spaces, and maintaining an adequate physical distance.
He also emphasised that vaccines do not prevent persons from becoming infected with the virus; instead, vaccines prevent persons from becoming severely infected. As such, persons who already received the vaccine should not cease adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines. The health minister said that persons must be aware of their “individual responsibility”.