Task Force announces mining halt in specific areas

Jun 23, 2020 News

Region 1 records 18 new COVID-19 cases…

– more checkpoints, increased screening in hinterland

Guyana yesterday recorded 21 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours taking the total amount to 205 new cases.
Speaking with Kaieteur News late last evening, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ministry of Public Health, Terrence Esseboom, confirmed the new cases and specified that all are from the hinterland regions.
Eighteen of those positive cases are from Moruca, a sub-district of Region One, North West District (NWD) while the others are from Regions Seven and Nine, respectively.
This publication later learnt that the positive cases from Region Nine are two students-one writing the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) scheduled to commence in July.
Contact was made with the Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Nine, Carl Parker, for details.
Not only did he verify that this was true but he explained that the two students had recently returned with their parents from Bonfim in neighbouring Brazil.
He told Kaieteur News that the COVID-19 Task Force of Lethem had decided to allow Guyanese living in Brazil, the opportunity to come home.
However, these individuals would have had to agree to a 14-day period of quarantine.
Likewise, these two students along with their parents were and still are quarantined. It was decided that these individuals must be tested and in so doing officials were able to confirm the one positive case so far.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Health is urging people from regions near Suriname, Brazil and Venezuela to be vigilant as these countries are recording a hike in their cases.
With many of these citizens engaging in cross-border activities, the fears have been real.
Records show that most of the victims are women between 20 and 29.
The Ministry of Public Health said that the 21 cases emerged from out of 39 tests that were conducted.
Some 24 persons remain in institutional quarantine while none are currently in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Guyana has recorded 103 recoveries and 12 deaths bringing the total amount of active cases to 90 persons.
2,147 persons have been tested so far with 1,942 persons negative for the virus. Citizens are still being urged to wear masks, maintain social distancing as well as continue sanitary practices to prevent further spread of the virus.
There will be mobile testing units in Georgetown at the Merriman’s Mall this week and citizens showing various symptoms of the virus are being urged to utilize it.
Meanwhile, the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF), the Ministry of Public Health and various other ministries and government agencies along with non-governmental organisations last evening held an emergency multi-stakeholder meeting on the alarming increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases in parts of Regions 1 and 7.
“Decisions were taken to implement enhanced containment measures within the affected areas in these regions and these will be gazetted shortly. The enhanced containment measures will include cease work orders for specific areas in the mining sector, screening, wider testing, checkpoints and other measures in several locations within regions 1 and 7. Specific details will be provided subsequently.”
According to the task force, these measures are necessary and urgent by the medical experts so as to prevent the wider spread of COVID-19 in these two regions along with other regions.
The emergency meeting was chaired by Chairman of the NCTF, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and attended by Vice Presidents Khemraj Ramjattan (Minister of Public Security) and Sydney Allicock (Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs), Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman, Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan, Minister of Education Dr. Nicolette Henry, Pan-American Health Organisation-World Health Organisation (PAHO-WHO) Country Representative Dr. William Adu-Krow, UNICEF Country Representative Sylvie Fouet, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Karen Gordon-Boyle, multiple Permanent Secretaries and several technical and medical experts from the Ministry of Public Health, the Health Emergency Operations Centre and the Guyana Defence Force, the Task Force said.

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