Healthcare providers working to prevent COVID-19 deaths

As the Ministry of Health continues its efforts to arrest the COID-19 pandemic, Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony, has commended Guyana’s healthcare providers who are on the frontline of fighting the COVID pandemic.

 The Minister was at the time providing the week’s update on the COVID situation in the country. He noted that while COVID-19 cases may be increasing the healthcare professionals are exercising their best practices to prevent death in severely ill patients.

Dr. Anthony pointed out the efforts of the team at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s Intensive Care Unit to preserve the lives of critically ill COVID patients.

“They have been trained in understanding the disease, clinically and how to respond to that so I want the public to understand that from a treatment point of view, from a clinical point of view, we are doing all that we can at this present moment but unfortunately as at other places where this is taking place we  will see deaths.”

Providing an update on the three COVID-related deaths recorded on Friday last (August 28), Dr. Anthony noted that one was a 74-year old man with underlying illnesses who succumbed to the complexity of being infected with COVID-19.

The second death was that of a woman in her 40s whom health care providers expected to make a full recovery but didn’t survive the implications of the disease.

“The third patient was someone from Region Nine who passed away a few days before and we only recently got the test results so that is why we had three deaths being recorded,” the Minister stated.

The Health Minister explained that approximately 80 percent of all COVID-19 infections will be mild, with the remaining 20 percent requiring hospitalisation. About four percent of those hospitalised would require Intensive Care and it is from this number, deaths are recorded.

“Generally, they are very critical and in terms of the treatment that we are offering, we will provide the best that we can offer right now but unfortunately we will lose some of those patients because there are various challenges with treating the disease,” Dr. Anthony said.

Health professionals have cautioned that persons have a higher risk of dying from COVID-19 if their immune systems are already battling with a communicable or non-communicable disease. A weakened immune system increases the body’s challenge to fight off new infections and given that COVID-19 is deadly it can kill the individual.

Persons are again reminded to adhere to all COVID-1 protocols for the safety of themselves and their families.