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New Government moves quickly to tackle COVID-19
– 46,250 rapid testing kits; 200,000 surgical masks expected in the country by Wednesday
As part of the first order of business, newly elected President Mohamed Irfaan Ali said that his administration will address Guyana ‘s COVID -19 situation frontally. As such, the President held a meeting with officials of the National COVID-19 taskforce (NCTF) at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC) yesterday.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) Dr. Karen Boyle
President Ali was joined by Prime Minister Mark Phillips and Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo; Police Commissioner (ag) Nigel Hoppie; the Guyana Defence Force Chief of Staff (ag) Brigadier Godfrey Bess; and Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) Dr. Karen Boyle among other stakeholders.
During a live streamed interview, the President expressed concerns over the deadly impact the management of the infectious disease has had on the country’s economy.
Ali said that members of his administration have already had discussions with the requisite personnel to explore the best approach to tackling the disease. He endorsed the call for rapid testing for the coronavirus in the areas most affected by the disease.
“We have to move quickly to have more testing done, comprehensive testing in key areas. Every day you get up, you see a variation in the number of cases—one day there is no report and another day, there are twelve new cases. That in itself tells you that something is wrong in the system and that there is need for rapid testing,” the President said.
According to Ali, another important aspect of addressing the pandemic is to develop an effective reopening strategy.
“The task ahead,” he told stakeholders, “is how we transition to reopening and I want this to be a national transition. So, we will be calling all the stakeholders, the manufacturing sector, the private sector, the financial sector, the working sector to address the situation as a whole. We will be asking them to come up with protocols and measures which they see as effective in reopening and returning the country to some amount of normalcy.”
As part of the plan, Guyana is expected to benefit from supplies by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (DMEMA), an inter-regional supportive network of independent emergency. A total of 46,250 rapid testing kits, along with 200,000 surgical masks and other items are expected in the country by Wednesday.
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