President Ali – Rise in COVID-19 cases, infected healthcare workers will not affect healthcare delivery

President Irfaan Ali has assured that the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases and infection of
healthcare workers will not affect the delivery of healthcare services. Ali made this disclosure
during a virtual press conference on Wednesday. He said that Guyana is not alone in this fight as
the new variant Omicron which is suspected to be here, is affecting countries worldwide.
Over the past two days, Guyana recorded 1,273 new cases of the virus, representing the largest
number of infections the country has ever recorded. However, the President appealed to
Guyanese not to panic, noting that Government has taken a proactive approach to deal with the
matter. “I want the population to understand, that what we are faced with is what the entire
global community is faced with… all the focus is on managing the healthcare system, ensuring
that our facilities are there, ensuring our health personnel are protected to the extent that the
health care system remains functional,” Ali said. He revealed that with about 200 healthcare
workers affected with the virus, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has since
accounted for 70 per cent of the doctors and 50 per cent of the nurses. The Obstetrics and the
Paediatrics Departments are both affected but the President declared to Guyanese that this will
not hinder the delivery of service.
Ali noted that most countries are moving in the direction of service delivery from the public
healthcare system. They are going to a situation like what prevailed from the inception of
COVID where there were cancellation of surgeries and the focus was only on emergencies,
however, “We are not heading into that direction because we believe that the system can manage
and operate even with the challenge that we have now,” he said. President Ali revealed that
Guyana has received much praise from the international community on the way it has dealt with
the virus from the inception. This is despite sharing borders with countries that are severely
affected with COVID-19. Ali stressed that many organisations are touting Guyana to be a model
on how to manage COVID-19. “Do the research on what is happening in those jurisdictions and
where we are located, and then do the analysis on how we have managed. I think all of us as
Guyanese should be very proud of the work our frontline workers, the healthcare system, the
government and private sector and civil society working together with the national taskforce and
the work we have done as a country to manage this to the point where we are today,” Ali said.
“That is why we are having this press conference so there is no panic in the system and people
understand clearly what we are addressing and the proactive way in which we are addressing
that,”  President Ali added. Ali reminded the nation that the only way to beat COVID-19 is by
way of vaccinations and following the protocols which includes sanitisation, wearing a mask
correctly and social distancing.