COVID-19 travel protocols being reviewed

The Ministry of Health is in the process of reviewing the COVID-19 protocol for persons arriving in Guyana.

During today’s COVID-19 update, Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony MP said given that there has been an increase in COVID-19 vaccines globally, vaccination requirements are being considered for entry into the country. Currently, Guyana accepts a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival.

“We are currently reviewing our protocol; we have a team that is currently reviewing that based on people now getting vaccinated and to see how we can do both PCR and vaccination as a requirement.”

Minister Anthony said while other countries are accepting antigen tests for entry, Guyana only accepts PCR tests.

“The reason being is that antigen tests are not as sensitive as the PCR. With PCR testing, if somebody is positive, you can know within a short period of time, but with antigen, it takes a long time, people generally will have to be symptomatic before you see a positive result,” he explained.

Minister Anthony noted that the imported number of positive COVID-19 cases remain at 53.

To date, 242,991 persons have received their first dose of the vaccine. This is approximately 49.9 per cent of the country’s adult population. While 128,252 persons or approximately 26.3 per cent of the population are fully vaccinated.