COVID-19 spreading rapidly in Bartica …authorities lament callousness of citizens as 3-yr-old among latest victims

A family of 10 from Bartica including a three-year-old girl is battling COVID-19 as five of them have now been tested positive for the disease.

In a statement the by the Regional Health Emergency Committee of the, Cuyuni, Mazaruni Region authorities said that of the ten tests samples taken from the primary family contacts to a Bartican who earlier tested positive for Covid-19, results indicate that four of them are also positive, including a three-year-old child. The release said five of contacts are negative, while RHEC is awaiting the result for one other. All of the contacts are from Bartica and are now in institutional isolation for fourteen days, as is mandated by the Covid-19 guidelines after which they will be retested.

Furthermore, 16 individuals were tested, amongst them health care workers. Authorities are yet to receive the results of this latter group, but will be keeping the community informed. According to RHEC, “What is sad and of increasing concern is the fact that Barticians are continuously flaunting/ignoring the advisories that the Health Department, time and time again, has been preaching, and no one seems to be listening, showing care or even bothering at all.”

The authorities said that face masks are not worn; instead, individuals keep them in their bags and pockets. “Social distancing is not being observed at all. Small children can be seen wandering on the road unsupervised. Where are the parents? Barticians still continue to be casual and unconcerned, despite our constant reminders that we are facing a deadly disease.”