COVID-19 testing suspended to facilitate electrical works at laboratory

The Ministry of Public Health has temporarily suspended COVID-19 testing in order to complete electrical works at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL).

It is the only public laboratory which conducts free COVID-19 testing in Guyana; the private labs at Eureka and the St Joseph Mercy hospital test for the disease but at a high cost.

The suspension of testing at the public lab will be for this weekend, according to Secretary of the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF), Imran Khan.

“Please be advised that there will be no testing for COVID-19 today, Saturday June 27th and tomorrow, Sunday June 28th as the National Reference Laboratory is closed for electrical works to be done,” Khan said in a Whatsapp message to the media on Saturday.

The laboratory began to test for the disease on March 12, one day after Guyana recorded its first patient. So far, 2,423 persons were tested.

As of June 26, Guyana recorded 230 cases of COVID-19 with Region One becoming the new hotspot for the virus.

A total of 109 persons have recovered, the number of deaths remains at 12.

There are 109 active cases in institutional isolation and 16 persons in institutional quarantine while one person is in the COVID-19 ICU.