COVID-19 recovery rate improving
− effective monitoring, treatment cited
The recovery rate of persons who tested positive for COVID-19 is commendable, and the Ministry of Health expects that this would continue to improve.
Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony said a greater percentage of confirmed cases have recovered due to effective monitoring and treatment of each case.
This, coupled with the campaign for persons to adhere to preventative guidelines, can result in the number of active cases eventually dropping to zero, he told the DPI this morning.
As of today, the confirmed cases in Guyana are 2,929. To date, 1,760 of those persons have recovered. In addition, there were 1,087 active cases; 142 in institutional isolation and 931 isolated at home.
The Ministry monitors persons who are being treated to track whether they present severe symptoms or remain asymptomatic.
“[The]majority of the cases are in home isolation and they are being monitored by a team we have in every region, who would call them on a regular basis to find out if they are experiencing the signs and symptoms. That [data is] communicated [to] our medical team,” Minister Anthony said.
Persons in isolation can call one of the hotline numbers for urgent assistance.
A person in isolation at home, presenting mild symptoms may be assessed over the phone by a medical professional. If the symptoms become complex, then they may be hospitalised. If a person remains asymptomatic for a period of 10 -13 days, they are deemed recovered.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has repurposed part of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) to respond specifically to cases where persons isolated at home may have developed severe symptoms.
“We have repurposed our EMS service which will be able to respond to people who have general illness and we also have a specialised unit that would respond to persons who probably have all the signs and symptoms of COVID-19. We started that this week, and that will be there for as long as the service is needed,” Minister Anthony said.