Mild symptoms being shown by most COVID-19 affected patients

Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, has disclosed that most infected persons are showing mild symptoms of the virus, as Guyana continues to see a significant spike in COVID-19 cases.

Dr. Anthony said that this may be due to the Omicron’s sub-variant, called BA.2, which is suspected to be circulating across the country. He noted that symptoms of this new sub-variant include runny nose, fatigue, sore throat, sneezing, headache and cough.

The minister revealed that BA.2 continues to cause an alarming spike of positive cases across the world, as such the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have dubbed this strain as a ‘variant of concern’, saying that it is more transmissible than other variants. “I think most of the persons are doing well. We have 29 persons in hospital and of those 29 we have 17 at the Ocean View Hospital with 2 persons in the ICU,” Dr. Anthony said.

The minister explained that the positive cases numbers can be underestimated, since many persons doing home testing are not reporting their status. Minister Anthony pointed out that the government has placed tremendous efforts on reducing active cases, as well, and preventing hospitalisation and deaths, by establishing guidelines to encourage persons to wear masks in crowded areas, sanitise regularly and observe social distancing.

The minister stressed that apart from this, the government has ensured Guyana’s population has access to COVID-19 vaccines. He noted that a robust vaccination campaign has allowed both adults and adolescents to have access to vaccines no matter where they reside.

Minister Anthony disclosed that his ministry has also ensured that frontline workers are fully equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE) to effectively carry out their duties, and at the same time be protected against the virus. Dr. Anthony stressed the important role citizens play in reducing positive cases, and again urged persons to get both doses of the primary vaccine and boost their immunity.

He explained that wearing masks and social distancing are also necessary in protecting one’s self against the virus. The health minister said that to date, 442, 590 (86.3%) of the adult population receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 342, 250 (66.7%) is fully vaccinated.

Additionally, Dr. Anthony said that in terms of the 12 to 17 age group, 34, 743 (47.6 %) took the first dose of the US-made Pfizer vaccine and 25, 469 (34.9%) is fully inoculated.