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Moruca’s first COVID-19 case traced back to Lethem-
One dead, several quarantined as a result…
One person is now dead and several others quarantined since Moruca, Region One, North West District (NWD) recorded its first Covid-19 positive case last Wednesday.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ministry of Public Health, Terrence Esseboom had told this media house that Moruca’s first positive case was discovered as a result of contact-tracing.
Aerial View of one of the villages in Moruca
Doctor in charge of the Moruca-Kumaka District Hospital, Derron Moonsammy later revealed that the infected person, a male had travelled from Lethem to Georgetown and then to Moruca.
Moonsammy told Kaieteur News that the man entered Moruca last month and was placed in mandatory quarantine as was instructed by the relevant heads of the district but the man showed no symptoms of the infectious disease and was subsequently released and allowed to go home.
However, Health Officials had been tracing the man’s movement and had only managed to locate him recently. After learning that the man might have been in contact with an infected person, health personnel rushed to his house and whisked him away to the Kumaka District’s Hospital.
He was immediately placed in institutional isolation and tested for the novel coronavirus. His results returned positive and health workers began scouring the area for persons whom he might have infected.
Not long after, a former teacher and assistant returning officer of the Guyana Elections Commission, Vincent Torres age 59, turned up at the district hospital with complaints of breathing problems.
Noting that his symptoms resembled that of COVID-19, he was admitted, tested and also placed in isolation.
Unfortunately, his condition worsened before his results came back and he died suddenly on Friday night while receiving treatment. It was only yesterday that they were officially able to confirm that Torres had died from coronavirus, taking Guyana’s death toll to 11.
Kaieteur News understands that since Moruca’s first case, several persons have been quarantined and authorities are currently seeking to quarantine more since Torres’ death in an attempt to contain a possible outbreak.
Moonsammy related yesterday that three more test samples have also been taken and five more samples are to follow immediately. He also told reporters that a mobile testing unit from Georgetown is expected to arrive in Moruca today to conduct more testing.
The doctor, however, expressed the fear that it will be a great challenge to contain the disease in his district. He explained that Moruca is a relatively large district consisting of many villages miles apart and with many secret trails leading to the Lethem/Brazil Border. Considering that cases in Brazil are now spiraling out of control, Moonsammy fears that miners frequenting the Guyana/Brazil border can use these secret trails to enter Moruca unknown to authorities. Moonsammy said that they had already received information that a group of miners had already left the border area and are on their way to Moruca through one of these trails. “Authorities are currently trying their best to intercept them in the path,” said Moonsammy.
Nevertheless, the doctor said health officials will do their best to ensure that the spread of disease is stopped as quickly as possible.
Recently, Guyana has seen a spike in the number of persons tested positive for COVID-19. In yesterday’s update, the Ministry of Public Health notified the public that two more persons have tested positive taking the toll to 137. In a subsequent press release, it was highlighted that three out the four hinterland regions have now been affected by the novel coronavirus. It was also noted most of the cases tested positive in these regions are specifically from the mining areas.
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