Third Guyanese test positive for COVID-19 after returning from Brazil

Region Nine on Monday recorded its third COVID-19 case with that person recently returning home from Brazil.

Recently, two students –10 years old –who returned home from Brazil to write the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) tested positive after a period of institutional quarantine.

The third male patient also has citizenship in Brazil where he spent some time before returning to Guyana in June and was placed in quarantine, according to Regional Health Officer Dr. Naail Uthman.

“Guyana and Brazil has [a] peculiar relationship, there are many persons who work in Guyana but live in Brazil and vice versa and that is how people cross. According to the immigration regulation, you can’t stop a Guyanese from coming to Guyana neither can you stop a Brazilian from going to Brazil,” Dr Uthman explained to the News Room.

He added that “from time to time, Guyanese come over to Guyana that live in Brazil and vice versa. When that happens, you have to quarantine persons and that is how this person was quarantined. A subsequent test proved that they’re positive.”

There are 12 persons who remain in institutional quarantine in Region Nine.

Persons are quarantined at a Guest House in Lethem while positive patients are isolated at the Lethem Regional Hospital.

Brazil has recorded the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases globally.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Brazil so far confirmed 1,344,143 cases with 57,622 deaths.

Guyana has so far confirmed 235 positive cases. Five new cases were confirmed on Monday with three from San Jose –a satellite village of Santa Rosa in Region One –bringing the total cases to 65 from there.