Guyana has now confirmed 92 cases of COVID-19 as the release of test results resumed yesterday after a two-day lull.
During yesterday’s COVID-19 briefing by the Public Health Ministry, it was stated that the number of positive confirmed cases increased by 10, after 57 more persons were tested, while some 27 persons have now recovered from the virus.
The new testing took the number of persons tested to date to 639. However, even as the number of persons tested continues to rise, no indication has been given as to whether those tests were from the private institutions that have started testing for the virus.
It was also reported that three persons are in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), with seven persons in institutional quarantine and 56 in institutional isolation facilities. The number of deaths as a result of the virus, however, remains at 9.
According to de facto Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence, some 25 patients have been seen in the COVID-19 ICU, with 7 deaths being recorded within the ICU.
Meanwhile, in a video presentation posted on the Ministry of Public Health’s Facebook page, the Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud spoke on the factors that may predispose COVID-19 patients to having severe forms of the virus. He noted that about 34% of Guyana’s recorded cases had suffered from some underlying conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease or even lung conditions. In addition, he said that some 74% of those persons had contact with a confirmed case.
He reported that a majority of the persons who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Guyana were asymptomatic (exhibiting no symptoms, as he mentioned that they accounted for 65.3% of the cases. He added that 29.3% of the recorded cases presented moderate symptoms, while 9.3% were mild. He also mentioned that 17.7% of the cases required ICU care and another 14.6% were critical to the point that respiratory support was needed. Additionally he mentioned that so far there has been evidence to prove that COVID-19 is causing a unique form of pneumonia that affects “the wide lung and not just part of the lung”.
In relation to the clearance of COVID-19 positive patients, the Chief Medical Officer stated that after 14 days in quarantine or isolation, those persons will be evaluated. “Healthy positives are usually placed under some sort of special controlled measures and they have to meet some criteria, including presenting two negative tests 24 hours apart,” he added.
He went on to say that they have had some persons who would have completed the 14 days but still present positive afterwards and therefore a number of precautions are taken. In addition, he mentioned that extra care is taken while dealing with persons who have underlying conditions. “We have set up a system where within the first 24 hours contact is made with them and then 48 hours and subsequently weekly to ensure that they themselves don’t succumb,” he said while adding that though persons would have been cleared there is a possibility that there might be a “sequel” to the damage that COVID-19 had on those persons’ bodies and there may be a rare chance that persons may become re-infected.
Meanwhile, Lawrence stated that the reason for the extension of the national curfew for another month is to contain the spread of the disease in Guyana. However, she lamented that while heath care workers continue to work selflessly on the frontlines, the general population continues to behave selfishly “with total disregard for your own safety and for your own life”, which she called unfair.
“From the inception you were all told that we can stop COVID-19 from spreading by simply staying home and following all the precautionary guidelines. That advice is still in effect. You know all these guidelines, so please adhere to them so that we can get on with our lives and our livelihood,” Lawrence stated.
