32 COVID deaths in July thus far  

…curve changed from upward climb in June 

For the first time since the start of the year, the COVID-19 deaths in Guyana saw a reduction in the month of June instead of the upward progression that marked January to May.

For the year thus far, the number of COVID-19 related deaths per month are as follows: January – 13; February – 20; March – 36; April – 66; May – 98; June 79 and 32 thus far for July. There is no data to determine the exact factor(s) that may have caused the reduction in June, nonetheless a positive achievement for the country.

However, Guyana’s death toll to the virus still remains high and, since March, has either outnumbered, doubled or even tripled the number of days in a month. Still ongoing is the Ministry of Health’s vaccination campaign which commenced on February 11, 2021.Thus far over 241,000 have received their first dose and over 126,000, their second.

Data shows that since the vaccination campaign commenced, over 300 persons have died from the virus. The Ministry of Health has stated that no one who has been fully vaccinated has died from the virus.  Thus far for July, one child — 16 years old — has died from the virus. The child had a form of cancer and marked the fourth child that has died a COVID-19 related death in Guyana.

Previously a 6-day-old baby from Region Three and an 11-year-old child from Region Four died in November 2020. In May, a 17 child from Region Four also died as a result of the virus.

Meanwhile, the oldest person to die was a 102-year-old female from Region Five which took place in July. This month, while 22 males died, 10 females died. Altogether while 142 females have died in 2021, 202 males have died. The total number of deaths altogether stands at 509 as of July 16, 2021. While 164 died in 2020, 345 died in 2021 — more than double the number of deaths for the previous year. As of July 17, there were 120 new cases and 12 persons in the COVID-19 ICU.