Georgetown – Sixteen new cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were recorded by health officials here on Saturday, taking the total number of people who have tested positive to 272.
Late Saturday, the Ministry of Public Health said there were currently 138 active cases hospitalised, including three in Intensive Care, at various facilities across the country, while 16 others are in institutional quarantine.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health Ministry said three more people have recovered from the virus, taking the total number of recoveries to 120.
So far, Guyana has recorded 14 deaths.
Meanwhile, the ministry is in the process of locking down several communities in the two interior regions to begin widespread testing and screening.
The Mministry has announced that medical teams will be in Aranka and surrounding mining areas in Region Seven, as well as Moruca in Region One in the coming days.
In the past two weeks, the two regions have seen a spike in their COVID-19 cases.
As part of the measures to stem the further spread of the virus in the two regions, mining operations in parts of the two regions have been ordered closed and there will also be a total lockdown of a number of communities.
Under the lockdown measures, no one will be allowed in or out of the communities for one month, commencing July 6 to August 3
The Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence has noted that the medical team of doctors, nurses, sanitisation staff, and surveillance teams will all be doing their part to identify and isolate positive cases while quarantining contacts and monitoring their conditions.
As of Saturday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that globally confirmed cases stand at 10 922 324 with 523 011 deaths.
While in the regions of the Americas, positive cases now stand at 5 575 482 with a total of 259 094 deaths. (CMC)