Approximately 40 staff at the Georgetown Public Hospital tested positive for COVID-19 since Guyana recorded its first case at the institution on March 11.
However, Director of Medical and Professional Services, Dr. Fawcett Jeffrey is adamant that more than 80% of that number did not contract the disease at the hospital.
Speaking with the News Room on Monday, he said: “in most of the instances where you do contact tracing, you realise that there’s a possibility that it did not happen on the premises of the Georgetown Hospital.”
Those persons have undergone the recommended period of isolation and treatment before resuming duty.
Dr. Jeffrey said no staff died from COVID-19 related complications.
He noted that while three former staff lost their lives to the dreaded virus, they were not at the time employed with the GPHC.
Referring to Paediatrician Dr. Seepersaud Chatterdeo and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Jermaine Ifill –both medical practitioners who died at the GPHC –Dr. Jeffrey said they were not hospital staff.
“The clarification is they were members of staff of the Georgetown Hospital, possibly sometime before but not at the time of contracting COVID or dying from it,” he said.
Dr. Jeffrey’s comment came hours after a retired nurse Mark King died at the GPHC.
King was 55-years-old.
He last worked at the hospital in July 2020 when he was stationed in the Accident and Emergency Unit.
Doctors who spoke with the News Room say he was one of the best nurses to work with.
King, News Room understands, had underlying conditions and was admitted to the COVID Intensive Care Unit on September 25.
Guyana has so far recorded 92 COVID-19 deaths.
