Those Chinese nationals who have fallen ill after working on a manganese plant in Guyana’s North West District (NWD) are due to return home, where they are expected to receive better treatment for their disease.
The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s (GPHC) ambulance was yesterday afternoon escorted by Police to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) where the ill miners accompanied by medical practitioners boarded a Chinese air ambulance.
An outbreak in Guyana’s Barima-Waini District resulted in the death of two Chinese nationals who were employed at the Guyana Manganese Inc.
Nearly a dozen others remain patients, some of which still undiagnosed.
Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, the country’s Chief Medical Officer, had told Inews that tests are still being conducted even as they await results from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) about a possible diagnosis of the patients who did not test positive for leptospirosis.
Some of the miners had tested positive for leptospirosis, a bacterial disease spread mainly by contact with water or soil contaminated by the urine of infected animals.
The operations of the Manganese Firm have since been ordered closed until the Environmental Protection Agency renders it safe for reopening.
