Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony believes that the current spike in COVID-19 cases across the country will continue well into October and possibly for several weeks more. This is unless Guyanese take the necessary precautions and get vaccinated, he said.
“We are going to see this trend continue for the next couple of weeks…unless people take the precautions we will not see a decrease in the numbers,” Dr. Anthony said on Monday during his daily COVID-19 update.
September 2021 is now the deadliest Month in Guyana since the first COVID-19 case and death was recorded here in March 2020. The month of September also saw some of the highest infection numbers with health care facilities now overwhelmed.
The precautions to be taken are standard. They recommend the wearing of masks, washing of hands and social distancing.
“Too many persons are not wearing their masks properly. They either have them under their chin or don’t wear then at all.
“We must get people to adapt a different attitude…unless they do that we will see more cases,” Dr. Anthony said.
The Minister is also encouraging vaccination, even with a shortage of the second dose Sputnik V vaccines in the country.
Dr. Anthony wants persons who have not taken their first dose to get it. Guyana is also administering the AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines to adults and Pfizer to adolescents.
Vaccination reduces the risk of getting infected and getting the more severe form of the disease.
Currently, there are some 131 persons in hospitals infected with COVID-19.
As of Sunday, some 354, 676 persons received the first dose of a COVID vaccine, representing 69.1% of the adult population, while 184, 072 persons received both doses, representing 35.9% of the adult population.
