Aranka identified as Region Seven COVID-19 epicenter as cases climb to fifteen

Jun 02, 2020 News

– region now accounts for 1/10 of national infections

With fifteen active cases of COVID -19 recorded in a matter of weeks, the Aranka Mining Area has been identified as the epicenter for the spread of the deadly disease in Region Seven.

RHO Region Seven, Dr. Edward Sagala

Regional Health Officer, (RHO) Dr. Edward Sagala said that seven new cases were discovered after a three-member team from the Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC), led by Dr. Payne, visited the Aranka Mining Area on May 25, 2020.
“They conducted various activities,” he told Kaieteur News, “including sensitization, screening and testing for Covid-19. The test samples were sent to the National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL) and seven of the tests were confirmed positive for coronavirus.”
According to Dr. Sagala, the seven positive results brought the total number of positive Coronavirus cases in Region seven to 15; this figure accounts for ten percent of the national total of 152.
The RHO warned that all are from individuals who have travelled to Aranka Mining Area, making Aranka the epicenter of this COVID-10 in the entire region. At present, he noted that the Region’s township of Bartica has no active cases.
The announcement by the RHO comes as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Shamdeo disclosed that the Regional Health Emergency Committee is awaiting word from the HEOC and the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), on policy decisions/recommendations as to how to address the COVID-19 current and future situation in Aranka.

Region Seven, one of Guyana’s most sparsely populated regions, now accounts for ten percent of country’s COVID-19 cases.

The CMO said that the Health Ministry is increasing its focus on the hinterland regions. He said that the focus is particularly on Regions One and Seven, with the emergence of more positive cases and the implications for the bordering communities as COVID-19 continues to spread across the provinces of neighbouring Brazil.“On the 21st May Moruca had its first case,” Persaud said, “Two days later, it had its second case; after eight days Moruca now has nine cases, with one death.”
According to him, Region One has six percent of positively confirmed cases.
Dr. Persaud, in presenting the breakdown of infections by age group and gender, noted that the younger males among the 25-29 age groups are predominantly affected in Region One while in Region Seven it is the 30-39 age group.
“As we can see from the statistics, our males continue to be the ones most affected by COVID-19 and contrary to popular Guyanese belief, that COVID-19 is a virus that mainly affects the elderly, our statistics continue to show us that the young now constitute the most vulnerable. Where do we go from here? How do we deal with the challenges that are much more far reaching than we originally anticipated?”
The CMO noted that for Region Seven it is known that young men have to go into the mines in order to provide for themselves and families.
“This doesn’t mean that you do this to the detriment of those around you,” he said, “If you practice social distancing, wear a mask and you participate in sanitizing and washing your hands as often as you should then it is guaranteed that the possibility of transmission will drop significantly. To those who are going home, you must look to the family that you are going home to and all the people you interact with on the way. Life is a treasure that we all need to appreciate, so don’t let us throw it away recklessly, let us collectively be considerate of each other.”
Dr. Persaud stressed that the Public Health Ministry continues to plead with men to understand that the health of the nation is everyone’s responsibility.
“So once this remains our prime focus, it pains to see that our nation is being slowly ravished by this deadly disease. When we speak of the asymptomatic person we are referring to a healthy carrier that is actively spreading the disease without showing any signs or symptoms; this is the reason why we are asking to treat everyone as a healthy carrier and ensure that you follow the guidelines of physical distancing, hand washing and wearing a mask,” he said.