Emergency measures to extend beyond August 31 – Health Minister

−Specific measures expected for particular areas

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony, has said the emergency orders to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) will be extended. He, however, explained that the new measures will cater to the epidemiology situation in specific areas.

“We are going to extend the orders. The specific measures that are going to be in place have been discussed with various people… There is no one size fits all for the whole country because different areas of the country would require different measures to be put in place and that’s how we will be addressing it,” the Minister told DPI during an interview this weekend.

The current round of emergency orders in place – from August 16 to 31 –  allowed for a 9pm to 5am curfew in other parts of the country except regions Seven and Nine. These two regions were under curfew from 6pm to 6am while movement in and out of the areas required authorization from the Ministry of Health.

An analysis conducted by the Ministry of Health determined that it was necessary to extend the orders based on the epidemiological situation in each region; which is the distribution patterns of the virus and the factors affecting the health and disease conditions in particular populations.

Specific measures will be taken in regions where there has been a spike in new cases within the last two weeks.

As of Saturday, August 29, 2020, there were 1184 confirmed cases in Guyana of which 509 are active. Region Four led with the most cases, 406, followed by Regions Nine and Seven with 229 and 208 cases respectively.