120 positive for COVID-19 at Lusignan Prison

A screening campaign for COVID-19 at the Lusignan Prison has returned 120 positive cases from 200 tests, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony confirmed Monday.

The Ministry had launched the campaign following the discovery of two positive cases at the facility last week.

Dr Anthony said that the infected prisoners “are no longer in the general population. They are separate from the other persons in the prison. We are going to observe them to see whether or not they develop any further signs and symptoms.”

Dr Anthony said the prisoners will be discharged from isolation once they show no COVID-19 symptoms after approximately two weeks.

Since the first two positive tests last week the Ministry, along with the Guyana Prisons Service, has been working to put measures in place to mitigate against the spread of the disease.

The Ministry deployed a team of doctors and nurses to complement the medical team of the Prison Service. They were tasked with training the prison personnel so that greater efficiency could be achieved with the daily sanitisation exercises. (Extracted and modified from Department of Public Information)