-says Minister Anthony

NOTING that PCR testing for COVID-19 is expensive, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, has posited that government should not be burdened with the cost of weekly tests for unvaccinated private sector employees. Minister Anthony’s made this comment in response to the recent move by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Giftland Group of Companies, to have all unvaccinated employees submit negative PCR tests at the beginning of each work week.
The minister, on Wednesday, told members of the media that the government expends around US$100 per test and should this system become mandatory by private employers, government’s testing budget would significantly increase.

“If you need to get those tests, then I think the employer should specify where they should get those tests. I don’t think they should be utilising the government’s resources in that way. We want to really check for persons who have been exposed and are at risk and who don’t have unlimited resources. One PCR test is probably about $US100, so every time we do a test for someone, it is a very expensive process,” said Minister Anthony.
He noted that while government has managed to procure a significant number of tests to boost its testing capacity, those tests are intended to be utilised to help government identify and curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus across the country.

The minister’s statements are supported by the Laws of Guyana. Section 47 (3) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of Guyana states “If a worker participates in a prescribed medical surveillance programme or undergoes prescribed medical examinations or tests, his or her employer shall pay – (a) the workers’ costs for medical examinations or tests required by the medical surveillance programme or required by regulation.”
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Giftland Group of Companies stated that “It is critical that all people in the workforce get vaccinated against COVID-19 because of highly contagious variants.”

It also pointed to the fact that COVID-19-related hospitalisations and deaths are on the rise throughout the country.
“It has become a worldwide known fact that 99.5 per cent of all persons in hospitals and [who are] dying from the dreaded COVID viruses are unvaccinated,” the Giftland franchise stated.
The company said that its decision was in keeping with continued efforts to protect its employees and patrons, and to create a safe work and shopping environment for all Guyanese.
Giftland’s announcement follows the release of a strongly worded statement by the PSC last week.

The commission had issued a strong statement calling for its members to require vaccination of its employees.
“The Private Sector Commission embraces and recommends that its member companies require that all of its employees who refuse to be vaccinated must provide evidence of a medically- current COVID-19 negative test from infection before reporting to work, while continuing to encourage all of its employees to become vaccinated,” the statement read.
Further, the PSC urged that the government makes it mandatory for all medical and security personnel in frontline contact with other persons to either be vaccinated or provide evidence of a medically-current COVID-19 negative test.

“… and that all places providing hospitality and entertainment services, including restaurants, require evidence of either vaccination or a medically-current COVID-19 negative test from its customers in order for them to receive service,” the PSC added.
The PSC also lauded the government’s “sterling efforts to obtain vaccinations for our people in an effort to achieve herd immunity for the nation”.
As it is, Guyana is one of the very few countries that have managed to secure enough vaccines to inoculate its entire adult population. Notwithstanding this feat, there are some Guyanese who are reluctant to take the vaccine.