Within the space of one month, COVID-19 infections have doubled in Region Nine and with the situation now spiralling out of control, President of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) Daniel Gajie believes a month-long lockdown should be implemented to curb the spread of the virus.
According to Gajie, this is the opinion of all the members of the Regional COVID-19 Taskforce, who all agreed at a meeting just over a week ago that more stringent measures should be implemented in the region to curb the spread of the virus including a region-wide lockdown and a six pm to six am curfew.
As of yesterday, the region had recorded a total of 1,655 COVID-19 cases with 134 of those being newly confirmed. Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony during his COVID-19 update acknowledged that there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases in the region over the last few weeks. He added that the situation in Region Nine is very concerning and the authorities are monitoring the situation very closely. The minister also noted that the health team is working on getting people vaccinated and their efforts have seen an uptake during the last few days. Testing for the virus is also ongoing.
Gaije pointed out that between March to December, 2020, the region had just over 500 COVID-19 infections which slowly increased in 2021 but doubled in number in June.
“What we really need right now is a lockdown of the region and when I say a lockdown I mean no one should travel in the region. We give them a week to stock up and then lockdown for a month,” he said.
With RCCI being a member of the regional task force, Gaije pointed out, the Chamber has put forward a recommendation for a region-wide lockdown and voiced its support for the six pm to six am lockdown. In addition, it has called for checkpoints to be established in every sub-district to monitor persons entering and leaving the various areas.
The taskforce agreed, and according to Gaije, it will be approaching the National COVID-19 task force to seek permission for these measures to be implemented.
He opined that the regional health services will not be able to handle the situation if it continues to spiral out of control as the response team is understaffed and has to work with limited resources which can be stressful and may affect their performance while on duty. He commended the team’s willingness to work but stressed that more persons are needed as they have to be on duty almost all the time.
The RCCI head posited that the reason COVID-19 cases are rising in the Rupununi, particularly Lethem, is because persons are refusing to get vaccinated and do not care. In so doing they are disregarding the measures in place to protect them.
He added that since vaccines were made available, RCCI has been working extremely hard, especially through its members and their employees, to promote the efficacy of the COVID-19 measures, but this has not been a complete success. Consumers on the other hand, he observed, are not adhering to protection measures such as wearing masks.
While businesses have been trying to encourage mask-wearing and other measures, Gaije informed, businesses in Lethem have been in a financial crisis since the closing of the Guyana/Brazilian border in March. He explained that many businesses in Lethem are highly dependent on their Brazilian consumers to survive, hence the closing of the borders has left many in “tight” positions. Now, he says, in order to get sales, some business owners have no choice but to be lenient with consumers who refuse to wear masks and adhere to other COVID-19 measures. “These businesses are trying to survive and have not received any assistance from the government,” Gajie said, adding that they have asked the Government to reduce the cost of electricity in the region but their request has gone unheeded.
Further, while families do not have to pay water bills in the Rupununi, businesses have to and have continued to do so. “We have been taking a lot of blows so businesses try to get the little that they can,” he said.
Meanwhile, Regional Chairman Bryan Allicock has stated that the majority of the cases are being recorded in the Central Rupununi with Lethem and St Ignatius, the major hotspots in the area. He disclosed that none of the measures implemented by the St Ignatius village council seem to be working as persons continue to breach those measures along with the national guidelines. As a result, the Regional Democratic Council has asked that they discontinue those efforts.
Allicock complained that persons are continuing to party and declared this as the main reason for the rise in cases, meanwhile, others are refusing to get vaccinated. He disclosed that some leaders are even politicising the situation and encouraging persons not to take the vaccine. “This needs to stop,” he said.
He stated that the RDC will continue its efforts to sensitise residents about the virus and the COVID-19 vaccine while dispelling conspiracy theories. (Laurel Sutherland)
