COVID-19 has claimed the life of another elderly man in Guyana, bringing the death toll as a result of the virus to nine.
The death was confirmed yesterday afternoon by de facto Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence, via a press release which stated that the deceased is 67-year-old Samuel Morris. The media release said that the man passed away on Wednesday evening around 8:20pm.
It was noted that the man who was diabetic was a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and had suffered from other complications.
During yesterday’s COVID-19 update by the Ministry of Public Health, it was stated that there are four new positive cases of the coronavirus in Guyana bringing the total number of positive confirmed cases to 82. Sixty more persons were tested for the virus between Wednesday and Thursday, which is the largest amount of persons that have been tested in one day to date, bringing that number up to 579. Lawrence earlier in April had said that the testing capacity can be maximised as the National Public Health Reference Laboratory can process 48 COVID-19 samples on an eight-hour shift.
The number of persons who have recovered from the virus has also increased, to 22, while two persons are now in the COVID-19 ICU and 51 are in institutional isolation. Eighteen persons are currently in institutional quarantine. The minister reiterated that Georgetown continues to be the epicentre of the outbreak with positive cases identified coming from communities in North, South and Central Georgetown.
During the update, it was also mentioned that the ministry has partnered with UNICEF to create a platform to receive feedback from citizens of the country on how the health authorities can improve their efforts in the fight against COVID-19. According to Sylvie Fouet, UNICEF’s Guyana/Suriname country representative, the collaborative effort is the KAP (Knowledge, Attitude & Practices) survey for the COVID-19 response. The survey is expected to be conducted every two weeks, twice per month and will cover all ten administrative regions in Guyana.
Fouet stated that the survey will be conducted by phone and online. Respondents will be contacted via their home phones or may receive an email requesting that a survey be completed. Persons are also encouraged to go to the UNICEF and Ministry of Public Health websites to take part in the survey during the first and third weeks in May. The UNICEF representative explained that the idea is to randomly select over 663 persons to complete the survey which should not last for more than 10 minutes. She emphasised that the interviewers will not ask for money, supplies, materials or any form of financial or material resources, only information – and the information gathered will be strictly confidential, only to be used for the purpose of the survey.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Guyana was recorded on March 11. Patient Zero was identified as Ratna Baboolall. She had travelled from the United States to Guyana on March 5 and admitted herself to the GPHC on March 10, 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 seven 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, 38-year-old Deryck Jaisingh, 49-year-old Sydney Trellis, and 45-year-old Lennox Williams.
