Guyana’s seventh coronavirus (COVID-19) fatality has been identified as a visually-impaired resident from the mining town of Linden.
The victim is 49-year old Sydney Trellis called ‘Jacket’.
Trellis died on Saturday night after being hospitalized in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
A release from the Department of Public Information on Saturday night quoted de facto Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence as confirming the death of the patient who she did not identify.
His passing came hours after the Ministry said that there had been no increase in the number of positive cases or deaths following the testing of 22 more persons suspected of having COVID-19.
Stabroek News has been unable to make contact with Trellis’s family but from information gathered, he lived alone and people in the community would usually assist him.
A source from the community yesterday explain-ed that because of Trellis’s inability to freely move about he attracted a lot of support from persons who would always assist him in getting his chores and business completed.
Stabroek News understands that it was neighbours who took him to the hospital after he displayed COVID-19-like symptoms.
Trellis was immediately transported from the Lin-den Hospital to the Georgetown Public Hospi-tal after he was assessed by doctors. He was tested in Georgetown and was confirmed to be a positive case.
Trellis reportedly contracted the virus after attending a funeral where he interacted with persons who had travelled from New York which has seen thousands of cases and deaths.
Public Relations Officer at the Regional Democratic Council, Region 10 Rawle Nelson yesterday told Stabroek News that the authorities are currently trying to make contact with Trellis’s family.
He also told this newspaper that they are currently engaged in a contact tracing exercise and are asking persons who would have come into contact with Trellis to get in touch with regional authorities and go into self-isolation.
Regional authorities are also trying to make contact with one individual who they believe would have been in contact with Trellis prior to his death. The individual is said to be one of the main persons who would assist Trellis.
Nelson said the town is saddened by the death of Trellis and is hoping citizens will recognise the dangers of COVID-19 and adhere to advisories and measures implemented to flatten the infections curve.
A few days ago, a second Lindener tested positive for the virus. The 29-year-old woman was tested after she exhibited mild symptoms of the virus. It was noted that the woman hails from the area where the first case was identified.
She has been transferred to the treatment facility at the Diamond Regional Hospital, East Bank Demerara.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Guyana was recorded on March 11th. Patient Zero was identified as Ratna Baboolall. She travelled from the United States and Guyana on March 5th and admitted herself to the GPHC on March 10th, where she later died. Her cause of death was attributed to hypertension and diabetes. It was later confirmed that she had tested positive for COVID-19 and died as a result of that disease. The five others who have since died are 77-year-old Colonel John Lewis, 77-year-old Osa Collins, 59-year-old Shadrach Stoll, 38-year-old Jermaine Ifill and 38-year-old Deryck Jaisingh.
