No patient in COVID ICU, less hospitalisations recorded – Health Minister

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, M.P. said Guyana continues to record less COVID-19 hospitalisations, while announcing that there is currently no patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

“Fortunately, over the last two weeks or so we’ve not seen much hospitalisation and in the ICU for the last couple of days we have not had any patients,” Dr. Anthony said during Thursday’s COVID-19 update.

To this end he is urging more persons to get vaccinated. He explained that while adults have been coming forward to get vaccinated, more still needs to be done to ensure the 12 to 17 age cohort receive their shots.

Dr. Anthony noted that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is necessary to prevent hospitalisation and the severe form of the disease, thus keeping patients out of the COVID-19 ICU.

Meanwhile, the health minister said there is still some level of vaccine hesitancy in Regions Two, Seven, Eight, and Ten.

“Up to now the vaccination rates in these regions remain relatively low. Among the people who are not vaccinated there, unfortunately, I do think there are some healthcare workers who have not been vaccinated.”

Additionally, Minister Anthony is reminding the population that the government’s COVID-19 testing is free of cost. These tests include antigen testing, gene expert machine tests and PCR testing.  He is encouraging persons who experience symptoms of the COVID to get tested.

“We have a number of testing sites across the country where we would collect the samples and we would do the testing. 

“And the government’s service has been free, and we focus primarily on persons who would like to be tested because they believe they have signs and symptoms of COVID,” the minister said.

As of today, 85.7 percent of the adult population took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 66 percent is fully vaccinated. In terms of the 12 to 17 age group, 47.2 percent is inoculated with the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 34.6 percent of this population is fully vaccinated.