23 new COVID-19 cases recorded in Regions 7, 8 & 9

Guyana on August 3, recorded 23 new COVID-19 cases bringing the total number of known cases in the country to 497.

With 22 death and 186 recoveries, the number of active cases in institutional isolation is 289 including two persons in the COVID-19 ICU at the Georgetown Public Hospital. There are 38 persons in institutional quarantine.

The new cases were recorded in Region 7 with eight cases, Region 9 (Aranaputa and Annai areas) with 11 cases and Region 8 with four cases in Kanapang.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Shamdeo Persaud said Guyana’s COVID-19 cases continue to climb especially in the hotspot areas of Regions 7 and 9 and in the space of four days, 96 new cases were recorded.

“There should be no letting up; complacency and worse still a laissez faire attitude can be our undoing.

“Sadly, misconceptions about COVID-19 persist- including that the disease doesn’t exist, that wearing a mask causes the disease, even testing brings about the disease; we need to dispel these myths if we are going to break the back of the camel; not only in regions 7 and 9 but in every community,” Dr Persaud said.

He made a special plea to younger persons not to delay but seek medical assistance at the earliest.

“Fellow Guyanese, our irresponsible actions impinge greatly on our Health Workers whom we need to protect at all costs. They have families just like us; they want to enjoy life too; they deserve this, but they are making the sacrifice to protect all of us,” Dr Persaud said.