No lockdown, but Govt considering more assistance for vulnerable groups – Dr. Jagdeo

Vice President, Hon. Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has said while the Government has no plans to increase curfew hours, it would consider providing more assistance to persons who are particularly vulnerable to the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Vice President said the Administration is taking a balanced approach to addressing the pandemic and public health, while also keeping the economy afloat.

Speaking on Friday at a media conference, Dr. Jagdeo said the Government had some difficulties in the administration of the first nationwide $25,000 per household COVID-19 relief cash grant.

“I have no doubt that in the country because every family in Guyana we had to go to, that in some cases, people may not have gotten the money, and they did not get a chance to fill up the pink form, because some of them might not have been home, and in some families, people lied.”

He said, however, that the Government would continue to support the most vulnerable, including pensioners.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jagdeo said the Government is not currently considering a nationwide lockdown rather, it would continue to look at ways to assist the most vulnerable and curb the spread of Covid.

“A number of people have called for changes of protocol, more lockdown and we have demonstrated that there is no empirical evidence to say that by shifting curfew hours, you’re going to get less rates of infection because people, often during the course of the day, they engage in economic activities and other activities, without wearing a mask or observing any protocol.”

The Vice President said the Government will, nevertheless, keep a close eye on the situation.  He also urged the populace to take the vaccines offered by the Government. He said once fully vaccinated, persons would not contract the most severe form of Covid.

“If we’re all vaccinated, then we can open up our country. We don’t have to wear masks in the future. We can go about our business, if we’re all vaccinated.”

The Vice President said the Government has also boosted its testing and intensive care treatment capacities to deal with new cases of COVID-19.

The Government has also trained more health personnel to fight the pandemic, and has rolled out a robust vaccination campaign.

“If you look where we stand globally, we’re among one of those countries that are doing better than most, even in developed jurisdictions.”

Vaccination against Covid is not compulsory in Guyana. However, the VP pointed out that other countries are implementing measures such as vaccine passports and Guyana may consider the same at some point.  At this juncture, he hopes enough people would be encouraged to get vaccinated.