Guyana confirms 1st Coronavirus death; Jamaica records 2nd case
The offical confirmation came this evening from President David A. Granger and this makes it the first recorded case of the virus in Guyana, a country on the Atlantic Coast of South America. The announcement also came on the same day that Government officials and stakeholders hosted a major symposium on the deadly virus.
According to the President, the unnamed victim was a 52-year-old Guyanese female who had travelled from the United States of America.
"She arrived in the country on 5th March, presented to the public health system on 10th March and was found to have uncontrolled Diabetes and Hypertension. She subsequently died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation at 08:00 hours on 11th March," Mr Granger noted.
GPHC placed in lockdown
According to local media, the GPHC went into lockdown early this morning after the woman died from what was believed to be pneumonia; however, she showed respiratory and signs linked to the coronavirus but had no flu-like symptoms.
It was revealed that during the lockdown, the entire emergency unit of the public hospital was sanitised and health officials were ordered to put on protective gear.
Family members alerted health officials after the death that the woman had recently returned from New York, which has since had over 200 reported cases of the virus.
Jamaica records second case
Meanwhile, Jamaica has now recorded its second imported case of COVID-19 in less than 24 hours in a female employee of the US Embassy located in Kingston.
According to the country’s Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, the woman is said to have returned from the UK earlier this week
Both patients arrived in Jamaica through the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston, which is said to receive about 125,000 passengers per month.
Novel Coronavirus is now classified as a pandemic, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
High-level meeting in Guyana
Guyana is currently hosting Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia A. Mottley, in addition to Prime Ministers Dr Keith C. Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago, Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, Keith C. Mitchell of Grenada and Ralph E. Gonsalves , the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The regional leaders are in the country for a two-day meeting on the impasse, which resulted from the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections with no winner officially declared.
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12 Responses to “Guyana confirms 1st Coronavirus death; Jamaica records 2nd case”
Thus, the territory should take strong protective measures to prevent, contain and mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus, including strict processing of people coming into the territory, avoiding large gatherings, social distancing, practicing good hygiene.......etc.
Though these measures will protect the health and safety of residents, they can put stress and strain on tourism, affecting individual, ie, taxi drivers, souvenir sellers, restaurant, tour operators....etc income and government revenue. The Coronavirus is highly contagious and can be easily spread by person to person, community spread......etc so be safe and follow the guidance provided by health authorities.
Fun fact: with 4G they told you to don’t keep your phone in your pocket and if your not using it keep it on airplane mode because it can cause cancer, so ask yourself what a superior 5G network can do to you...