Citizens urged to take precautions as COVID cases increase – Min. Anthony

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony during Tuesday’s COVID-19 Update disclosed that there are 161 people who have tested positive for COVID across the country.

Twenty-five new cases have been registered over the last 24 hours with six persons currently hospitalised. They are being treated at the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, East Coast of Demerara.

“We are again appealing to the general public to take all the necessary precautions because over the last two weeks the cases in Guyana have been going up and hospitalisation has been going up,” Minister Anthony urged.

He is also calling on citizens to take personal responsibility in protecting themselves against infection by following preventative measures that have been put in place by the government over the last two years.

“For example, mask-wearing, avoiding crowded places, etc., because these are the basic non-pharmaceutical measures one can use in terms of preventing COVID.”

Moreover, the variants of the virus currently circulating, mimic the influenza virus, which can lead to persons mistakenly thinking they have the flu.

Therefore, it is important that persons experiencing such symptoms get tested for COVID-19 even if they have flu-like symptoms. The health minister emphasised the importance of vaccination.

“Unfortunately, we do not see a lot of persons coming in to be tested although we have a number of testing sites. What would help is people getting vaccinated [because] we have seen a significant drop in vaccination rates. We are encouraging people who are older and/or those who have underlying medical conditions to get vaccinated” he reiterated.

Dr Anthony said the ministry will continue to provide all the relevant information to the public.

However, information must be acted upon by everyone, including those who have been vaccinated. This cohort is being encouraged to return to get the booster doses.

“This is the only way you can protect yourself especially for those who are vulnerable. We also need people and organisations to assess the risk for themselves and then be able to make those decisions to protect themselves and others”

Meanwhile, the minister established that healthcare workers in each region have adequate PPEs and access to the necessary vaccines and other medication.