MINISTER of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, has indicated that the country over the last few weeks, has been seeing a “steady decline” in the number of active COVID-19 cases.
As of July 5, 2021, the number of active cases recorded was 1,623. Minister Anthony disclosed that as of July 13, 2021, the number of active cases was 1,321 which indicated that 302 persons had recovered from the virus during a one-week period.
“We have 1,321 active cases as of today so if you’ve been looking at numbers over the last couple of weeks, we would have seen a relative decline in the number of active cases. Over the last 24 hours we have had 56 new cases and as you know we would monitor people for approximately 10 days or so and once the two last days they haven’t shown any signs or symptoms, then we are able to discharge them. So, using this WHO criteria, we have been able to discharge people,” the Health Minister stated.

Even as the ministry continues to see a decline in active cases, Minister Anthony highlighted that several communities across the country were being monitored as COVID-19 hotspots. He indicated that these communities had been seeing clusters of positive COVID-19 cases being confirmed from one area and this had led to the ministry monitoring them.
“We’re monitoring Sisters Village [Region Three] where we have approximately 20 cases…Region Four, the area that we are monitoring is Sophia where we have about 20 cases. Region Six continues to be a little bit problematic, and we currently have in New Amsterdam, 32 cases,” he said.

The minister added: “In Region Nine, over the last three weeks or so, we have seen a surge in cases and right now we have 39 cases in St. Ignatius, 33 cases in Lethem, another 19 cases in Tapachinga, and in Region 10, we have at Wismar and Mabura 17 cases each.”
He noted that government was continuing with its fight against the virus and was encouraging everyone to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves. Those included the wearing of face masks, proper sanitisation and adequate social distancing. Persons are also being encouraged to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Government has been rolling out an aggressive COVID-19 vaccination programme which gives anyone above the age of 18 the opportunity to receive a vaccine. Currently, government is offering first and second doses of the Russian-produced Sputnik V vaccine, Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine, and the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
As of July 13, 239,877 or 49.3% of adult Guyanese had received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of this amount, about 120,914, or 24.8 per cent had received both doses.