Rupununi records its first COVID-19 case

Last Updated on Monday, 11 May 2020, 18:23 by Denis Chabrol

Region Nine: Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo

As the number of COVID-19 cases in neighbouring Brazil continues to soar, Guyana is reporting that Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo (Region Nine) has recorded its first confirmed case, prompting a stern warning by Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence.

“Guyanese, a disaster is at our very backdoor and unless we exercise caution and adhere to the control measures, the model figures of 1,400 and 20,000 can become a reality,” she said in Monday’s update.

Lawrence says the number of COVID-19 cases in Guyana continues to soar rapidly with 12 new cases in just three days. She says over the weekend, seven new cases were recorded and on Monday another five which brings the total number of confirmed cases to 109

The most recent cases include a man in Region Nine.

Lawrence noted that in neighbouring Brazil, the number of confirmed cases has increased by 10,000 and  deaths by more than 750 people.

Official statistics Monday afternoon showed that across Brazil, there are 166,000 confirmed cases; 64,957 recovered and 11,343 died.

In Guyana, the Public Health Ministry said the number of deaths remain at 10, 36 have recovered and six are in a COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit.

In the last 24 hours, 16 tests were conducted, bringing the number of persons tested to 930 of which 821 were negative.