Health Minister says Omicron variant resembles flu

─ urges persons to get vaccinated

The symptoms of the Omicron Covid-19 are similar to the flu virus, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony said, as he again called on persons to ensure they are vaccinated against the disease.

Some of the common symptoms, he outlined, are stuffy and runny nose, sore throat, as well as headache, all similar to the flu.

“Here in Guyana, we haven’t seen many cases of persons having flu and at the same time coronavirus. What we have seen with the current surge with the omicron variant, is that the disease resembles more like a flu, the symptoms are similar.

And that is why it’s important to distinguish between the two and the doctors that we have in the system, I’m sure they know how to do that differentiation,” Dr Anthony said.

The health minister is also urging persons to have a balanced diet, which he said will provide adequate nutrition to protect the immune system.

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony said employers need to put strict policies in place to prevent the spread of infection in the workplace. These include sanitising, masking, ensuring social distancing, and encouraging employees to be fully vaccinated.

He has also urged persons to isolate and wait a few days if they have been exposed, before getting tested. This he noted, will give more accurate results.

Meanwhile, some 1019 positive cases were recorded over the last 24 hours, taking the total number of active cases to 7,613.

Region Four recorded the highest number of infections with 4,878 cases, followed by Region Three with 912 cases and Region Six with 561 cases.

Of those infected, 93 persons are hospitalised with 64 at the Ocean View Facility, and 13 in the Intensive Care Unit.