3 women, 1 man die from ‘COVID’; 116 new cases

Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll continues to climb with four more persons succumbing to the dreaded disease, taking the country’s total to 359 since March 2020.

On Sunday, the Health Ministry reported that the latest victims were admitted with COVID-19 like symptoms but died while receiving care at its medical institutions. Samples were taken from the victims at the time of admission and those returned positive tests.

The victims are a 73-year-old man from Region Five (Mahaica Berbice) who died on May 17, along with three women; a 78-year old from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); a 42-year old of  Region Five, who both died on May 21, and a 77-year-old of Region Six (East Berbice Corentyne), who died on May 19.

The latest deaths mean that 60 persons have succumbed to the disease this month so far, making it the second deadliest month since the pandemic hit these shores in March 2020. Last month, 66 persons died.

Meanwhile, another 116 persons tested positive for the virus over a 24-hour period, taking Guyana’s overall cases to 16,130. Those new cases came from 1,829 tests

The new cases were recorded in all ten administrative regions: Region One (one case), Region Two (three cases), Region Three (13 cases), Region Four (62 cases), Region Five (five cases), Region Six (13 cases), Region Seven (one case), Region Eight (one case), Region Nine (nine cases) and Region 10 (6 cases).

There are now 19 persons in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 96 are in institutional isolation, 1,911 are in home isolation and four are in institutional quarantine.