NEWS
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SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
2 women succumb to COVID, cases rise by 92 – active cases surpass 500
T
he Health Ministry on Friday reported that two women who had tested positive for COVID-19 have succumbed, thus bringing to 231 the total number of deaths by this disease in Guyana. One of these two women is a 37-year-old from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and the other is a 79-yearold from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara). They both died on May 18, and their vaccination status is unknown. A whopping figure of 92 new infections accompanies the report of these fatalities on Friday, and confirmed cases have climbed to 64,174. From just a few daily cases being report-
ed last month, the pandemic has taken a deadly turn locally. New statistics provided by the Ministry have shown that 504 persons are in isolation, two are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 25 are in institutional isolation, and four are in institutional quarantine. An analysis of these new cases shows them dispersed among six administrative regions, with four being in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam); seven in Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara); 56 in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica); five in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 17 in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) and three in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-
Upper Berbice). Of those who had been infected by this disease -29,395 males and 34,466 females -- 62,315 persons have since recovered; the recovery rate in Guyana is approximately 97.5 per cent. The most recent vaccination figures in Guyana indicate that over 441,000 first doses and 340,500 second doses have been administered to adults. This is approximately 86 per cent and 66.4 per cent respectively of that demographic. For children aged 12 to 17, more than 25,000, or 34.7 per cent, are completely vaccinated. Booster coverage has surpassed 63,000 doses. These numbers have been stagnant within the
Rape survivor says she expected more love, comfort, care from her mother …feels satisfied perpetrator was found guilty
Child rapist Aduke Josiah
A
n 18-year-old woman who is the survivor of adolescent rape told the Demerara High Court on Thursday that she expected more love, comfort, and care from her mother after the traumatic incident. “When he raped me, I was just 15. I felt very painful and ashamed; I also felt very depressed. This incident left me feeling shameful with all the people that found out about my story…” the young woman shared in a victim impact statement. The man she spoke of is 36-year-old Aduke Josiah of Plum Park, Sophia, Greater Georgetown. Josiah was found guilty of child rape last month by a 12-member jury after a trial before Justice Priya SewnarineBeharry. The prosecution’s case is that the teen was left in Josiah’s care when he raped her on April 8, 2018. Following the incident, the teen informed her mother who made a report to the Police. The rape survivor said
that no one knew of the conflict raging inside of her until she was given a chance to tell her story to the court. In fact, it was the most horrifying experience for her. She expressed, “It left a mark of pain in my heart to know that my maiden was taken by someone it didn’t belong to. I learned to cope my best with my family not wanting to talk about this incident at all. It was very hard; it was not easy at all for me.” The love and care she expected from her moth-
er were not forthcoming. Although her mother was aware of what happened to her, the teenager shared that her mother would constantly abuse her. “…It was very abusive as a mother to a daughter. I expected more love, comfort, care, and protection but instead, I was verbally, physically, and emotionally abused,” she said. Nevertheless, she added that her heart is at peace and her mind is relaxed and calm now that she has told her story to the court. Though it took her four years to receive justice, the woman said that she feels satisfied because Josiah took something from her that did not belong to him. “He made me live with that memory repeating over and over in my head every day of my life. This is an incident that affected me emotionally, physically, and mentally for many days. I will not eat, lashing out at others, feeling depressed and crying having this memory repeating over and over in my head that I will never forget.” Josiah will be sentenced next Tuesday.
GUYANA COVID-19 DASHBOARD MAY 20, 2022 UPDATE
NUMBER OF NEW CASES
92
NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL ISOLATION
25
NUMBER OF PERSONS IN HOME ISOLATION
504
NUMBER OF PERSONS IN COVID-19 ICU
2
NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE
4
TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (FEMALES)
34,643
TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (MALES)
29,531
TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES IN GUYANA SINCE 2020
64,174
NUMBER OF RECOVERED CASES
62,412
TOTAL 1st DOSE VACCINATED FULLY IMMUNISED
REGION 1
2520
REGION 2
2522
REGION 3
8131
REGION 4
31,819
REGION 5
2398
REGION 6
5944
REGION 7
2426
REGION 8
886
REGION 9
4043
REGION 10
3485
HERE IS HOW YOU CAN BE SAFE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Wear a face mask.
441,071 340,572
TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS
DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES SINCE MARCH 2020
1231
Keep a physical distance of at least 6 feet. Wash your hands or use handsanitizer If you have any symptoms, call the COVID-19 Hotline.
GET MEDICAL ADVICE ON COVID-19 FROM MOH 24/7 HOTLINE NUMBERS: 2311166; 226 7480; 624 6674; 624 2819; 624 3067 OR 180/181. past weeks, and authorities are urging Guyanese to get their immunity boosted. The World Health Organization has published its latest comprehensive set of World Health Statistics up to the year 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to an estimated 4.5 million excess deaths in that year. These
disruptions are likely to set back global progress on both life expectancy and healthy life expectancy made in the first 20 years of the century. If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, or needs any additional information, they are asked to contact the COVID-19 Hotlines: 231-1166, 226-
7480, or 624-6674 immediately, or visit www.health. gov.gy. Global figures show that almost 517.6 million people have tested positive for the virus, and 6.2 million have died. In the Americas, more than 154.2 million confirmed cases have been reported, with over 2.7 million deaths.
