92 new Covid-19 cases, one more death

The Ministry of Health has reported 92 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday and the report reflects a total of 9,762 persons tested for the disease to date, and includes a portion of tests sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) on August 31 to help clear some of the existing backlog which had accumulated over the past several weeks.

The release said it is important to note therefore that the total figures in the Dashboard do not represent results from the most recent testing as of Sunday, but over a longer period of time.
Last week, 500 COVID-19 test samples were dispatched to the CARPHA Medical Microbiology Laboratory (CMML) to help Guyana speed up the delivery of COVID-19 test results. Out of the 500 samples sent to CARPHA, 359 test results were processed thus far and the results were made available to the Ministry of Health (MOH) over the weekend. 

At present, samples can be sent to CARPHA only from the NPHRL in Guyana. Once a sample is sent to CMML, CARPHA issues the results to the Chief Medical Officers at the respective Ministries of Health in the region, who are responsible for the dissemination of those results.

The CMML currently tests all suspected cases of COVID-19, as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) case definition, provided by the WHO Global surveillance for COVID-19 caused by human infection with COVID-19 virus.

The CMML uses the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method, which is recommended by the WHO. This method remains the gold standard for COVID-19 laboratory diagnosis, as the sensitivity and specificity of such tests are nearly 99.99% accurate. 

The CMML ensures appropriate quality control measures are followed to guarantee the accuracy of all results.
Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony has expressed appreciation to CARPHA for their continued technical support and assistance to Guyana during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Additionally, today’s dashboard confirms an additional death from COVID-19 as of midnight last night on September 06. 
The latest mortality is a 79 year-old male from Upper Takutu- Upper Essequibo (Region 9) who died while receiving care at our medical facility. The test sample was collected from the patient at the time of admission and tested positive for COVID-19 subsequently. 

The Ministry of Health expresses sincerest condolences to the families of the deceased and will make every effort to provide all the necessary support during this difficult time to render any assistance needed.

Officials of the Ministry have contacted all relatives and persons to facilitate contact tracing and rapid assistance to everyone who may have been exposed to the deceased. The Ministry is also appealing to the general public to respect the confidentiality of the deceased and his family and to allow them to mourn their tragic loss in peace.