While new COVID-19 infections have risen, a revision of the public health guidelines is not currently under consideration, according to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony.
“At this moment we are not contemplating that in Guyana because our case load is relatively low,” Anthony said during the daily COVID-19 update after being asked whether Guyana would consider revisiting guidelines in light of the recent rise in infections.
Anthony said the guidelines could be revisited if necessary as he noted that this is occurring in other places. “It’s a very dynamic process. So, at times you would have [a] reduction in cases. And then at times if we see cases going up, then, of course, we would have to revisit the public health guidelines to ensure people are protected,” he explained.
At the time of his update on Wednesday morning, he said there were 92 active cases and 32 new cases, with two persons in hospital. “That’s a little bit on the high side. We haven’t seen that in (a) couple weeks. But we will keep monitoring,” he noted.
In March, the PPP/C-led government rolled back the COVID-19 restrictions on social activities and distancing, while also making the wearing of masks in public spaces optional.
The new guidelines only provide protocols for handwashing and sanitation at businesses, where employees, customers and visitors “are encouraged to wear face masks.”
Not out of danger
Anthony was also asked about the national vaccination drive against the virus and he reiterated his view that the population has become “complacent.” “We have not seen a lot of people coming to our vaccination centres. But we are not out of danger as yet,” he stressed, while noting that if one looks at what is happening across the rest of the world the problems have not gone away. “So we have to be mindful and one good way of protecting yourself is to ensure that you get vaccinated,” he added.
As of yesterday, the ministry had recorded the administration of 440,550 first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, accounting for 85.9 of the adult population. Anthony said 339,855 second doses have also been administered, accounting for 66.3% of the adult population.
Among the 12 to 17 age group, he said the uptake of vaccinations has plateaued. “We have been trying to encourage vaccination in this age group, more so [given] that schools have reopened but we have not seen a massive uptake in this group as well. He said there were 34,566 first doses administered, which represents 47.4% of the age cohort, and 25,294 second doses, accounting for 34.7%.
Anthony also said that despite the ministry’s emphasis on the need for booster doses to reduce vulnerability to infection after waning immunity, it has not yielded the expected results. “We are not seeing a lot of people coming to get booster shots,” he said, while noting that as of Tuesday 62,769 persons had received booster shots. “So, again, we want to appeal to people, especially those persons who have underlying illnesses—diabetics, hypertensive people, people with cardiac illnesses, and cancers and so forth—that it’s important for you to protect yourself and come and get the booster doses,” he added.
