Chief Medical Officer lashes out at ‘young population’ for flouting COVID-19 measures

With five new cases of COVID-19 recorded as of June 29 pushing Guyana’s overall total to 235, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Shamdeo Persaud on Monday lambaste the “young population” for flouting the measures in place to guard against the spread of the deadly disease.

In Monday’s update, Dr Persaud took note of the huge gathering at the weekend on the Georgetown seawall after the 6pm curfew.

The “weekend lime” has become a norm despite the curfew and other restrictions in place with absolutely no action taken by the Guyana Police Force.

“Over the weekend, we observed large gatherings on the seawall in Region #4 after 6:00pm despite repeated warnings to observe physical distancing, to wear a mask when out in public and to adhere to the curfew measures. It is quite obvious that all our messages are falling on deaf ears and that our young population is determined to do as they please, evidently of the opinion that COVID-19 is a hoax and that they cannot be infected,” Dr Persaud said.

As of June 29, 114 persons have recovered from the virus while the number of deaths remains at 12; there are 109 active cases in institutional isolation while 18 persons are institutional quarantine and one patient in the COVID-19 ICU.

So far, Guyana has conducted 2,552 tests with 2,317 of those being negative.

Dr Persaud again urged Guyanese to take the disease seriously.

“Do we have to see our citizens dropping and dying on the road before we take COVID-19 seriously? Are we so callous that we think little of the service being done by all the frontline workers even at the risk of infecting themselves and their family?

“What about the statistics which show that our males are predominantly being affected and that our 20- 29 age group is most at risk? Finally, do we really care for our loved ones particularly our grandmothers and grandfathers whose lives we endanger when we go home after such gatherings?”

“I wish to make a special appeal once again to our doubting Thomases in Region#4 that COVID-19 is here in Guyana and will soon catch up with us if we continue with our lax behaviour.”

He also urged residents of Moruca, Region One and those of the mining communities in Region #7 to be vigilant and take heed of the warning.

“We have indicated that a large number of positive cases in both of these regions have no signs and symptoms. These persons can transmit this disease and you will not even know that they are sick because there is no sign to tell you this. I continue to urge you to wear a mask and observe the physical distance guidelines provided.”