Persons who may be showing signs and symptoms of COVID-19 can visit the Ministry of Public Health’s mobile testing unit located at the Merriman’s mall for screening.
The unit will be in the area until Friday.
Family Medicine Resident, Dr. Keon Harmon who heads the mobile unit, explained that the screening process is quite simple and it helps to determine those persons who qualify as high-risk. All that is required is a form of identification.
First persons will be asked several questions to determine the likelihood of them being exposed to COVID-19. If they meet the criteria for testing then staff will take a sample.
These samples will then be sent to the National Public Health Reference Laboratory for testing. Dr. Harmon cautioned that receiving test results will depend on several factors.
“For example, we can test about 50 persons today but that does not necessarily mean that we would have the results by the end of the day. It depends on a number of factors such as the flow of operations on the lab.”
He also noted that based on the results, management of the person will be determined by the team.
The head of the mobile unit said thus far, the majority of visitors were young adults and a few senior citizens.
On April 27, the Ministry of Public Health launched its mobile testing unit to assist in reducing the number of persons seeking screening and testing at the Guyana Public Hospital. [Extracted and Modified from DPI]
