Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony has stated that the new COVID-19 measures, which only allow vaccinated persons to enter public buildings and agencies, are geared at making such spaces safer for Guyanese.
In the new guidelines measure No. 17 –stipulates that any person who wishes to enter a public building shall be vaccinated. Where an unvaccinated person wishes to enter a public building, they can do so by appointment, and by presenting a negative molecular biological PCR test result of a test taken within seven days prior to the appointment.
This, according to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony, will ensure that people are kept safe.
“It is one way of ensuring the environments in the public are much safer because you have vaccinated people, the chances are you will have a much safer environment when we visit those places. It’s not only for the persons accessing the service but also for the people working there because we have to create this safe environment if we are going to push back against the COVID-19 disease,” Dr Anthony said in his daily COVID-19 update.
Almost 99 per cent of persons currently hospitalized with COVID-19 complications are unvaccinated against the life-threatening virus.
There are about 2,200 active cases in Guyana. Some 100 of the 122 persons hospitalised are being monitored at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Liliendaal with 38 in the Intensive Care Unit.
“We have to be more cautious and most of the people that are in the hospitals right now, almost 99 per cent of them are unvaccinated and most of them in the ICU are also unvaccinated. We want to appeal to people to make sure they get their vaccine and protect themselves,” he added.
In Guyana, 320,747 persons or 62.5 per cent of the adult population have received a first dose vaccine. Meanwhile, 168,201 persons are fully immunized. Almost 10,000 children have also received their first Pfizer shot.
