Health Ministry to launch mobile testing units
– Partnering with private facilities for sample collection
– Part of medium-to-long term measures to fight COVID-19
DPI, Guyana, Friday, April 24, 2020
The Ministry of Public Health will be launching several mobile testing units on Monday, April 27, 2020.
This was disclosed by Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence in her daily update to the nation today.
The units will be located at designated COVID-19 health facilities namely the East La Penitence Health Centre in Georgetown, Herstelling on the East Bank of Demerara and Paradise on the East Coast of Demerara.
The Herstelling and Paradise health facilities, Minister Lawrence noted “will provide services to persons along those corridors. These operations will take place between the hours from 9 am- 3pm. Persons must follow the notices in the print and electronic media.”
These mobile testing units form part of a raft of measures the Ministry is implementing to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus in Guyana.
Minister Lawrence noted that following several discussions at the national level and with recommendations from the Health Emergency Operations Centre, “Guyana like the other countries globally must strengthen its response by putting medium and long-term measures in place.”
Additionally, the Ministry will be partnering with private health institutions and providing them with medical supplies for sample collection for inpatients and outpatients who may present with signs or symptoms to these facilities.
“We will also be screening our frontline workers (health and non-health) both the public and private sectors across the 10 administrative regions,” the Public Health Minister explained.
This extra measure, she noted, will safeguard the health and wellness of the healthcare personnel who are exposed and at a greater risk of contracting the virus even as they execute their duties.
There will also be a continuous push to identify and equip separate facilities that will be specifically outfitted for persons who had tested positive for COVID-19.
This is related to those who require special care and medical attention such as pregnant mothers who need to deliver, persons requiring emergency surgery, dialysis, Malaria and other conditions that require hospitalisation.
Minister Lawrence also reported that the rehabilitation and transformation of the former Oceanview Hotel to a COVID-19 hospital and inpatient facility continues.