Georgetown Hospital denies Lethem teacher contracted COVID-19 while hospitalised

Last Updated on Sunday, 5 July 2020, 13:11 by Denis Chabrol

The Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) on Sunday denied that the now dead Lethem teacher, 25-year old Donna Greaves, contracted  COVID-19 while she was a patient at the country’s major health care institution.

“While our commitment to medical confidentiality restricts us from sharing details of Ms. Greaves’ clinical records, we maintain that these claims are furthest from the facts, and wish to state in a definitive manner that Donna Greaves did not contract COVID-19 at the GPHC,” the hospital said.

Greaves died Sunday morning, pushing Guyana’s total number of COVID-19 deaths to 15.

The GPHC was responding to claims by her husband, Franklin Greaves, that he has evidence to prove that the city hospital was negligent and caused his wife to contract the deadly coronavirus, COVID-19. The man claimed that tests conducted on his wife, himself and family as well as other persons proved that they were all negatives. “Straightforward, we know that she got contaminated at the Georgetown Hospital by their negligence by their fault. We know, we have information on that also and I will be following up and taking some action on that also,” he said.  She was taken to the Intensive Care Unit on July 1.

He  conceded that his wife suffered from another undisclosed illness, even as he insisted that that was not the sole cause of her death.

The hospital slammed her husband and other people for blaming the healthcare workers unnecessarily. We strongly condemn the proclivity to cast blame on our hard working and dedicated doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who continue to risk their lives daily to care for patients in the wake of a deadly pandemic.

The GPHC said that “practice of demoralizing healthcare professionals must cease.”

The Corporation sought t assure Guyanese that that health care institution continues to practice strict protocols and quality control measures to “eliminate transmission and maintain a safe space for our staff, patients and visitors.”

The GPHC used the opportunity to implore all Guyanese that COVID-19 is real and changing the national trajectory of the pandemic lies heavily in our ability to strictly adhere to the precautionary guidelines. The GPHC chided the media to confirm facts with the Corporation prior to publishing inflammatory and panic inducing articles.