Nearly 1,200 COVID cases recorded in 24-hrs; samples not yet sent to confirm Omicron variant

The number of active COVID-19 cases has increased to 8,680 after a total of 1,186 people tested positive within a 24-hours period.

The majority of the more than 8,600 active cases are in Region Four, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony said on Thursday during his daily COVID-19 update.

The regional breakdown of the active cases is as follows:

Region One – 90 cases
Region Two – 201 cases
Region Three- 1,004 cases
Region Four – 5,378 cases
Region Five – 245 cases
Region Six – 639 cases
Region Seven – 266 cases
Regi0n Sight – 18 cases
Region Nine – 300 cases
Region 10 – 539 cases

With 1,186 people reportedly infected in just one day, this is now the highest number of daily cases recorded locally. It builds on the thousands of cases recorded since the end of December and has been steadily increasing since the beginning of January.

The increase in the number of people infected with COVID-19 is illustrated in the graph below:

[visualizer id=”132359″]

The rapid increase in cases has been linked to the suspected presence of the new Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. This variant has been found to be more transmissible.

But, on Thursday, Dr. Anthony revealed that Guyana has not yet sent COVID-19 samples to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad and Tobago.

“We have selected the samples, we are now at the process where the agencies are making the arrangements for the shipping,” he said.