More pregnant women infected with COVID being treated at ‘Ocean View’ hospital

There are now 28 pregnant women currently infected with the disease COVID-19 and receiving treatment at the National Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, Georgetown, according to the Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony.

During his daily COVID-19 update on Monday, the Health Minister stated that 66 people were hospitalised in various health facilities across the country after they experienced the more severe and life-threatening symptoms of COVID-19.

Of the 66 hospitalised patients, 43 of them are receiving treatment at the Liliendaal Hospital, which is also called the ‘Ocean View’ or ‘COVID’ hospital. Further, 15 of those 43 patients are in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

“Over the last 24 hours, we had four pregnant women who came in positive for COVID,” Dr. Anthony said, noting that the number of COVID-positive pregnant women has increased to 28.

Further, Dr. Anthony lamented that many of the patients are not vaccinated, and urged pregnant women to get vaccinated to protect themselves from becoming seriously ill if infected with COVID-19.

It is unclear, however, if any of the women are receiving critical care in the ICU. Importantly, however, Dr. Anthony reported on Friday that 23 pregnant women were at the hospital; pregnant women accounted for a majority of the patients at the hospital.

Previously, Dr. Anthony explained that during pregnancy, women’s immune systems may become a bit weakened and as such, they may be more vulnerable to contracting the virus.

And, based on new research, he said that scientists have found that it is safe for pregnant women to get vaccinated during any trimester or while breastfeeding.

Meanwhile, generally, a total of 399,829 adults (or 77.9 per cent of the targeted adult population) have received COVID-19 vaccines; 276,888 (or 54 per cent) people have received two vaccine doses.

It is expected that by Tuesday, Guyana would administer more than 400,000 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Additionally, some 29,088 children between the ages of 12 and 18 have received their first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine dose while 20,270 children received both their first and second doses.