Ocean View COVID-19 hospital to be 1st in the Region
-to be used long-term to treat victims of epidemics/pandemics
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, April 16, 2020
Works on the prospective COVID-19 hospital at Ocean View will produce one of the first specialised health facilities in the Caribbean to cater to patients of epidemics.
Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon disclosed this on Thursday.
“In a very short space of time, we will have an A-1 facility where we can be able to say to the world that this is what we are doing for Guyanese who are affected by COVID-19,” he said during a media briefing at the Civil Defence Commission.
Because of the urgency needed to address the pandemic, the government has been given clearance by the owners of the former Ocean View Hotel to proceed with construction works that will see the birth of the new COVID-19 hospital.
The facility will house 300 critical patients once it is operational. According to the DG, “the financial arrangements are still being worked out.”
The decision to establish a COVID-19 hospital stems from a recommendation from PAHO-WHO. Other facilities that will be used to treat COVID-19 patients include the Guyana National Gymnasium, Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, and the building in the compound of the former Guyana Broadcasting Corporation on High Street, Georgetown.