By: Amar Persaud
Ajay Persaud, a 38-year-old taxi driver of Bella Dam, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara (WBD) is struggling to come to grips with the fact that both his mother and sister have died as a result of the novel coronavirus.
Bibi Persaud, 68, died on August 31 and then on September 7, her 47-year-old daughter, Davita Wong met her demise.
Persaud, who was a mother of six, was hospitalised for some 14 days and died whilst receiving care at the Infectious Disease Hospital (Ocean View facility) at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
Wong, a mother of five, also died at that facility. They were both unvaccinated.
Reports are that sometime in early August, the mother started to experience symptoms associated with the virus, particularly the loss of smell. During the same period, the daughter, who usually visits the mother, started to develop similar symptoms – the most prominent being shortness of breath.
The mother and daughter were encouraged to get tested for Covid-19 and when their results returned ‘positive’, they were immediately isolated.
In an interview with INews, Ajay explained that the deaths of his mother and sister have shocked the entire family.
“It was hard buddy, it was really hard, you make joke fuh lose your mother and sister one time, it nah was easy,” he expressed.
In the case of the 68-year-old woman, she suffered from hypertension (high blood pressure) which compounded her condition.
On the other hand, Ajay said he spoke to his sister and medical personnel on the morning of her demise, and was informed that she was in stable condition. However, about an hour later, he received news that she died.
“Come on, you not telling we the truth! You telling we the people them come around, everything alright and next thing you gon call back and tell we them dead,” the man expressed.
While Ajay could not provide a reason for his family members not taking the vaccine, he believes if they had at least one dose, maybe they would have been alive today.
“If they had the vaccine, they would’ve had a better chance because nuff body that I know get this corona and get them vaccine and they recovered,” he explained.
Ajay, who is fully vaccinated, is pleading with the public to play their part in the fight against the pandemic, by taking the vaccine and following all protocols such as washing hands, sanitising, social distancing, and wearing masks.
“All what I telling people is to just go take them vaccine and take precautions.”
To date, a total of 687 persons have died as a result of Covid-19 since the virus was detected in Guyana on March 11, 2020.
In the past week, the country registered 36 deaths – all of whom were unvaccinated.
There are currently 129 persons hospitalised with the virus, 29 of whom are the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
