….as seven more recover

THE authorities are appealing to persons who may be experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus or those who may have been in contact with a positive case, to get tested.

This was noted on Thursday afternoon by Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, who noted that while there has not been any increase in the number of cases since Wednesday, the number of persons who recovered from the pandemic, climbed from 27 to 34.

It was noted that the number of persons tested to date has increased to 736 while the number of deaths attributed to the virus remains at 10.To date, 93 persons have tested positive for the coronavirus in Guyana.

To date, the total number of patients seen in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit is 26 with 7 deaths being registered within the ICU.
The total number of patients who were transferred from ICU is 13, with the total number of patients who recovered and were discharged from ICU being three.

Of all positive cases, children account for 5.4 per cent, adults 82 per cent and the elderly 12.6 per cent. Persaud said that even though 52 per cent of Guyana’s confirmed cases were males, they account for 80% of COVID-19 deaths recorded thus far.

Persaud said the authorities continue to appeal to Guyanese , “to come forward if you have been in contact with a positive case or experience any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19. We are pleading with you to access our mobile units positioned at various points in the city as well as the COVID-19 sites on the East Coast and the East Bank Demerara.”
Persaud said that testing is critical if the MoPH is to uncover the asymptomatic cases and to provide them with the necessary screening and assist in reducing the number of illnesses and deaths due to the severe form of the disease.

The CMO said that Guyana’s fatality rate stands at 10.8 per cent whereas the World Health Organisation(WHO) Global fatality rate is four per cent. “This simply means that we must detect those in our communities showing no symptoms but require medical intervention,” he said.

He said that the asymptomatic cases account for most of our confirmed cases in Guyana. “COVID-19 is still in our midst, we cannot let our guard down. Remember that COVID-19 is not only a concern of the MoPH, but for the entire nation,” Dr. Persaud noted.

Globally, the number of confirmed cases of the pandemic has exceeded 3.8 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
Brazil has recorded over 132,000 confirmed cases of the virus with an alarming number of deaths which has eclipsed the 7000 mark.