‘Map out a path to tackle spike in COVID cases’

Jan 07, 2022 News

– former health minister tells government

Kaieteur News – The sharp increase in the infection rate of deadly Corona Virus in Guyana has caught the attention of the Opposition’s Shadow Health Minister, Dr. Karen Cummings, who is of the view that the ministers of health and education must map out plans to tackle the pandemic.

Dr. Karen Cummings

Dr. Cummings on Thursday hosted a news conference where she explained to reporters that steps must be taken to better prepare health workers and even teachers in the field, now that school has reopened after several months. According to her, “The frontline workers are at severe risk not only from the Delta variants which we know is already present in our society but also the more transmissible Omicron which I know is already here”.
In this regard she urged, “The Minister of Health, the Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony, should move to provide adequate personal protective equipment such as the N95 or KN95 mask to the healthcare workers because of its effectiveness”.
The former health and foreign affairs minister contended that attention must be paid to the “at-risk workers” inclusive of nurses, doctors and even law enforcement officers, to ensure that they are not impacted because of the hybrid situation created by the delta and omicron occurring simultaneously.
In light of the outbreak of cases at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Cummings warned that a huge burden can be put on the healthcare system and possibility of absenteeism among healthcare workers may increase.
With regard to the opening of schools, the former minister acknowledged that the closure of schools indeed had a detrimental impact on the school community-academically, socially, and mentally. “However, one would have thought that the Minister of Education, the Hon. Priya Manichand, would have consulted and crafted a plan that would have allowed for the safe re-entry of our students and teachers, given the magnitude of such an undertaking,” she said.
Against this backdrop, Dr. Cummings noted, “The APNU+AFC Coalition recommends that the Ministries of Health and Education map out a clear path to avoid confusion among teachers and students who would have been evaluated positive for the virus”.
She explained that such testing samples should be given high priority for genomic sequencing at a sister CARICOM laboratory, where the testing for the Omicron or the Delta virus are done in order to ascertain whether the teacher could return to school five days after symptoms, as in the case of the Omicron Virus, or ten days after symptoms, as for the Delta Virus.
“The various education players should be able to understand clear protocols and pathways to avoid confusion among staff and confrontation among policy makers,” Cummings said. She was adamant that one death is one too many, given that over 1000 Guyanese have already lost the battle due to the contagious virus.
“One of the disturbing features of this phenomenon is the mishandling and the mismanagement of the COVID-19 situation by the current regime. It is well documented that the abandonment of the effective Coalition’s COVID-19 comprehensive plan, the deviation from a consultative democracy, and the high cost of the bi-partisan approach have led to dire consequences,” Cummings argued.
She told reporters that Guyana has seen not only a diagnostic gap, owing to inadequate testing sites for the virus detection, but also a sequencing gap as the variants of the COVID virus cannot be determined in this oil rich country.
“No one knows how many testing sites are there, the locations, and what is really the intention of the current Regime as it relates to testing for the virus? Hence, it is evident that there will continue to be levels of inequities,” the former Minister reasoned.
She continued, “There is little or no access to the analysis of clinical data. The Guyanese public continues to be disinformed, misinformed, and illinformed about COVID, its variant, and now the omicron variant which has overtaken the delta variant in terms of transmissibility”. She said that the public deserves to know if Guyana will be able to achieve herd immunity soon, with 70 percent of the nation being vaccinated, and what approach has been taken by the Ministry for people with co- morbidities.
Cummings also questioned whether the Ministry of Health would indeed be prepared for a surge of the delta or the hybrid virus.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News