Dear Editor,
On its present trajectory January is on target to become the third deadliest month during the pandemic in Guyana. At 83 deaths as of Monday, and with a 14-day average of 5 deaths per day it is primed to surpass May’s 99 deaths and stand behind October’s 129 and September’s 173.
Of particular note to this fast rising death toll is the recovery rate. In a Guyana Chronicle article dated December 29, 2021 the Chronicle stated: “HEALTH Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, has said that 95.4 per cent or 37,366 persons of the 39,151 persons who tested positive for COVID-19 since it was first detected in Guyana in March, 2020, have recovered.” (https://guyanachronicle.com/2021/12/29/95-4-per-cent-of-local-covid-19-patients-recover/).
Indeed, as the graph below shows, at the end of December 2021 the recovery stood at 94.62%. Today the recovery rate is 73.95% (42,319 recoveries; 57,227 persons tested positive).
Perhaps the Honourable Minister might consider ramping up testing to a propitious level in order to increase Guyana’s chances of arresting the spread of this virus (the total positivity rate is 11.59% and an average of 27.81% over the last two weeks) and thereby lower hospitalisations and ICU admissions which would allow overworked health care professionals and over-extended hospitals to deal more effectively with fewer admissions.
Yours faithfully,
Ellis Dee
