26 NEWS
SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
PAHO Country Rep fears possibility of COVID-19 endemicity
T
he gradual increase of COVID-19 cases might have been viewed as a positive sign for Guyana, as opposed to an uncontrollable health crisis. However, Country Representative of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), Dr William Adu-Krow has viewed this under a different light, fearing that the country might develop an endemicity to the virus rather than eliminating it completely. During a forum hosted by the Texila American University on Friday, the PAHO official recognised the
rate at which cases were detected locally, calling it an insidious one. “Now we have a system in place and I’m hoping we’ll be able to catch new cases as early as possible. If we do, I think we are on the route to getting somewhere that we can all live with. In terms of my outlook, initially what I feared was we in Guyana did not have this exponential rise that many countries were having. Ours was an insidious one; insidious because we were not very serious with the measures being adopted.” Due to the slow progression of the virus and cou-
pled with non-adherence to guidelines in some sections of the population, he said there were apprehensions that the country was entering a state of endemicity – meaning it would linger and become confined to the region. “Some people were agreeing to the measures, some people were flouting it with impunity and therefore, even though the measures were working, there was just a slight increase all the time. My fear was that we were entering into endemicity, meaning that you would never get over COVID-19. It would be grad-
Early pension payment for senior citizens
A
s the COVID-19 pandemic continues to persist, senior citizens are advised that their monthly pension payment for July will be distributed at an earlier date. In a notice published, the Social Protection Ministry announced that old age pension payments will begin on Monday, June 29, 2020, at Guyana Post Office branches countrywide. The alphabetical system, using surnames, will continue, for senior citizens to receive their payments during the first five payment days of the month at post offices in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Five
(Mahaica-Berbice), Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). Those whose surnames begin with the letters A to D can uplift their pension on Monday, June 29; followed by letters E to K on Tuesday, June 30; letters L to P on Wednesday, July 1; Q to T on Thursday, July 2 and those with letters U to Z on Friday, July 3. This alphabetical system will only be used during the first five payment days and after, senior citizens will be allowed to cash their coupon on any day. The pensioners were advised to ensure social distancing is practiced at all times and are asked to wear protective masks and sanitise their hands before entry.
When collecting payments at these locations, the GPO has had difficulties in the past with maintaining standard social distancing guidelines and ensuring that pensioners wear masks when collecting their vouchers. In fact, it was reported that despite warnings for senior citizens to avoid visiting post offices during the coronavirus threat, hundreds of pensioners were seen flocking various postal locations countrywide. The elderly folks were waiting in long queues to uplift their pension payments. Senior citizens have been advised to authorise a younger family member to collect their pension on their behalf.
PAHO Country Representative, Dr William Adu-Krow
ual and then become a part of this life, like HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) or
diabetes. That is not what we want,” the health official expressed. According to Dr AduKrow, Guyana should seek to have a complete eradication of the virus – a target which can be easily achieved through reduced transmission. He added, “This is a transmission that can be halted. With everybody on board, we should be able to halt it. The good thing is that it can be halted with non-pharmaceutical means and therefore, it is my view that if we all apply ourselves; we should be able to do it.” It has been over 13
weeks since Guyana recorded its first case of the virus and presently, the statistics are close to the 200 mark. Until July 2, the current COVID-19 measures and curfew will remain in place, as directed by the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF). Public transport will continue to operate at 50 per cent passenger capacity as social distancing rules and the wearing of face masks must be maintained. Moreover, gatherings of more than five persons remain prohibited, while the stay at home order also remains in effect.
No new COVID-19 tests conducted in 24 hours
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o new test for COVID-19 has been conducted within 24 hours in Guyana and the positive cases have remained at 183. On Saturday, statistics from the Public Health Ministry’s dashboard showed that the number of samples tested is 2048 with 1865 returning negative – the same that was published on Friday. Presently, 102 persons have recovered, while there are 69 cases in institutional isolation and 24 cases in Institutional quarantine. There are no patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Deaths from the virus also remained at 12. This past week, there were a total of 24 new cases and a further breakdown shows that 11 teachers from the Santa Rosa Primary School, Moruca sub-district, Region One (Barima-Waini), are now infected with the coronavirus. All positive cases were
placed in institutional isolation and the remaining 26 teachers from the school were asked to self-quarantine. The Ministry would have announced on Friday that a decision was taken to reverse the lifting of the non-curfew measures in Regions Five (DemeraraMahaica) and Eight (PotaroSiparuni). This means the 6 pm to 6 am curfew measures would remain in all administrative regions until directed otherwise. These were the only two coronavirus-free regions in the country, but given the surge in cases, officials opted to reinforce the measures. Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud would have also reminded that in Guyana, the male population is most affected by the disease, along with Regions One (Barima-Waini), Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). In their analysis, the mining community is now
one of the “most vulnerable groups” for the spread of the disease. “I wish to remind you that we are at a much higher risk because COVID-19 is rampant in our bordering countries and we have not seen a reduction but a constant increase in the number of positive cases. Residents in Region Seven, I wish to make a special appeal to you as the situation in your community is of grave concern to the Ministry,” he highlighted. He said the CuyuniMazaruni Region, notably Aranka, has the second-highest number of confirmed cases. The mining activities, the continuous movement of people and services in and out of the area also make it extremely likely for the disease to spread. Globally, the total number of cases is 8,385,440 with 450,686 deaths. In the region of the Americas, there are 4,092,526 confirmed cases with 212,517 deaths.
