Santa Rosa residents relieved community now ‘COVID-free’

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, August 05, 2020

Santa Rosa, Guyana’s largest Indigenous settlement located in the Moruca Sub-District in the Barima-Waini region has recorded a full recovery of all of their eighty-eight (88) COVID-19 cases.

In an interview with DPI today, Toshao Whanita Phillips explained that all of the patients are out of isolation.

Santa Rosa recorded its first case back in April and in a matter of weeks, the community was considered a ‘hot spot when several persons tested positive for the virus.

Of the 89 confirmed cases, 10 were children and one resident, unfortunately, lost her life. Some 246 tests were done in the village with a population of over 10,000.

The village leader said she is happy with the new development of the recoveries, noting that the situation was worrying over the past few months.

“You know some persons saying ‘we don’t have coronavirus in Moruca’ and so on, but we were able to control the situation…we are happy to be COVID-19 free.”

Toshao Phillips added that all of the measures remain in full effect. The area is still under lockdown and the curfew remains in effect. However, there is a amount of cargo boat still operating in the area.

“All the measures are still in place. We have a few cargo boats still working but we continue to monitor the situation. The villagers are adhering to the measures implemented by the village council and so we are hoping to keep it that way.”

The Toshao is encouraging the residents to continue to take the necessary precautions by sanitising and washing their hands, avoiding large gatherings and wearing a mask when going out in public.

As of August 4, a total of 497 positive cases were recorded; of this amount, 22 were COVID-related deaths.

The Public Health Ministry has reported that there are 289 active cases in Institutional Isolation; 38 persons in institutional quarantine and two persons are in the COVID-ICU. To date, 186 persons have recovered.