Health Minister outlines effects of long-COVID, urges more vaccination

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, M.P, said Guyana has recorded a number of cases of the long-term effects of the coronavirus (long COVID) since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

To prevent this, he is urging persons to ensure they are fully vaccinated and boosted.

Speaking Wednesday during his daily Covid update, Dr. Anthony said SARS-CoV-2 can affect almost any part of the body. He said symptoms of long-COVID can develop when a person is infected with the disease or even after recovery.

“Most people are aware of COVID pneumonia, and that’s what a lot of people were having especially when we had the delta variant circulating. COVID pneumonia would prevent you from breathing properly, that’s why we had to put a lot of people on ventilators,” he stated.

Long COVID is a term used to describe the effects of Covid-19 that continue for weeks or months beyond the initial illness.

Dr. Anthony said long-COVID could also cause damage to the kidney, heart ailments and temporary memory loss. Some persons were also diagnosed with diabetes after they recovered from the virus.

To address this issue, the health ministry has established a “multi-disciplinary” medical team at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to treat and manage patients with long-COVID.

“Within the Georgetown Public Hospital, we have a multi-disciplinary team that has been established so that when we identify patients with long-COVID they can come, and depending on the symptoms that they are showing, the relevant specialists will be able to help them with the relevant care and management,” Dr. Anthony said.

Meanwhile, the minister is cautioning citizens not to become complacent, as persons can still become hospitalised with the Omicron variant.