Vice-President urges Guyanese to follow COVID-19 protocols

— says the country can return to semblance of normalcy if protocols are followed 

Vice President, Hon. Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, has appealed to Guyanese to adhere to all issued COVID-19 protocols. 

The Vice President issued the call during an interview on Kaieteur Radio 99.1fm Thursday evening, stating that Government can no longer shut down the country. 

“People are not going to accept that, they have to work, they have to eat, so we are putting in place these protocols, but people have to observe them,” Dr. Jagdeo stated. 

He said the country can return to some form of normalcy. 

“We have to have some semblance of normalcy by opening up, but citizens can help enormously if they follow the protocols… People go to the market, and they should walk with their face masks,” Dr. Jagdeo urged. 

He added that if persons were finding difficulty accessing masks, these could be made available.  

“If they don’t have a face mask, we can make the resources available so they can get, but please wear the face mask because it is important. Transmission is at a minimum if everyone has a mask on. It is not foolproof, but it is harder to contract the virus with a mask on,” he reiterated. 

Concerning the increase in positive COVID-19 cases, the Vice-President said this is to be expected as more tests have become available since the new PPP/C Government took office on August 2. 

During the approximately one-hour interview, Dr. Jagdeo also spoke of Government’s plans for the Oil and Gas Sector.  

“We have been very clear about our approach to the Oil and Gas Sector, we outlined several areas in our manifesto. We campaigned on that, about existing contracts and future contracts, transparency provisions. We believe enough has not been done to allow Guyanese to benefit from the developments that have been taking place. Dr. Jagdeo noted.