–medical staff working from community centre, building to be fumigated
Operations at the Matthew’s Ridge Hospital, Region One (Barima/Waini), have been temporarily ceased with its medical staff working out of the Community Centre in that area.
<<INews>> was told this morning that this latest development is in light of the recent situation where at least eight Chinese nationals were air-dashed to the capital city on Saturday afternoon after experiencing a “mysterious” illness with severe symptoms similar to those of the H1N1 virus (Swine Flu).
This undiagnosed illness has already claimed the life of one individual.
A senior source told this publication that the Matthew’s Ridge Hospital has been evacuated to allow for fumigation of the facility since medical staff are still to determine the cause of the sickness that the men experienced over the past week.
Although the results of the tests that have been conducted on the men are so far yet to be revealed, the Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence, in a statement to the media on Saturday evening refuted claims that the H1N1 virus led to the death of the Chinese individual.
She said that the Public Health specialists were still conducting “a battery of tests” to identify the virus blamed for the manganese miner’s death and the hospitalisation of eight others, including a solitary Guyanese who is an employee of the Guyana Manganese Inc (GMI) firm.
According to the statement, the Ministry noted that “there is no determination (as yet) of what the ailment is but all the patients displayed similar symptoms including pain, fever, headache and respiratory distress.”
However, days have passed, and the Public Health Ministry is yet to conclude and publicize what the results of the tests are.
