GEORGETOWN, Guyana
Guyana’s first confirmed case of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has also turned out to be the first death in the Caribbean related to the disease.
The Public Health Ministry confirmed that the 52-year-old woman who died at Georgetown Public Hospital yesterday, did have the virus, which is now responsible for more than 4,300 deaths across the globe.
The middle-aged woman had arrived in Guyana from the United States on March 5 and was taken to the hospital on Tuesday with severe respiratory illness.
She died yesterday morning, several hours before the COVID-19 test results had returned. Other examinations carried out by the doctor before the patient died showed she had uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension.
President David Granger, who made the announcement last night, has advised that public gatherings and non-essential travel be discouraged. This will be in addition to continued screening of persons travelling from Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Brazil, French Guiana, Panama, St. Vincent, the US, China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Iran.
The latest figures published by the World Health Organization yesterday, put the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 118,322. There were 4,292 deaths at that time.
Most of the cases and deaths were in China, where the virus originated – 80,955 confirmed cases and 3,162 deaths.
COVID-19 cases have also been recorded in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Martinique, Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy.
St. Vincent has first
coronavirus case
KINGSTOWN, St Vincent
A Vincentian who returned home from the United Kingdom last weekend is the first confirmed case of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.
Health Minister Luke Browne announced at a press conference last night that the woman, who is between the ages of 30 and 35, had attended a meeting in the UK and flew into the island last Saturday. She had a cough and a fever on Tuesday and was tested and results came back yesterday from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad and Tobago.
Browne said the woman is exhibiting “mild symptoms…consistent with what you would see in most cases of COVID-19” and is expected to make a full recovery.
In the meantime, she has been placed in isolation while her family members have been quarantined.
The Health Minister told the press conference that while necessary protocols are being implemented, no travel ban is under consideration for now.
The announcement came on the same night that Guyana announced its first COVID-19 case – a 52-year-old woman who died yesterday, hours before her test results came back. She had travelled from the United States.
And in Jamaica, two women who arrived in the island from the United Kingdom – one a US Embassy employee and the other a Jamaican citizen – have also tested positive.
There have been other cases in Cuba, Martinique, the Dominican Republic, Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy.
The latest figures published by the World Health Organization yesterday, put the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 118,322. There were 4,292 deaths at that time.
Jamaica Gov’t considers travel restrictions after another traveller from UK tests positive for COVID-19
KINGSTON, Jamaica
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, says Government is considering imposing travel restrictions for the United Kingdom (UK), following confirmation of the second imported case of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) from the country in two days.
A female United States (US) Embassy employee, who recently returned from the UK, yesterday tested positive for the virus. The Embassy in Kingston has since suspended visa and other consular service and is in the process of sanitizing the premises to prevent further outbreak.
That news came a day after it was confirmed that a Jamaican woman who came to the island from the UK on March 4 and went to hospital five days later, also had COVID-19. That patient is currently in isolation at the University Hospital of the West Indies.
As of yesterday, the UK had 373 confirmed cases and six deaths.
In the meantime, the Government has placed a ban on all social gatherings requiring permits.
Prime Minister Holness has also advised against non-essential travel and said that he would not be approving any such travel for members of the Cabinet or the public sector.
He also told the media that Government could close schools as it moves to contain the spread of the virus. He said a protocol has been developed for if that becomes necessary, but it needs further consultation.
Meanwhile, 38 persons remain in quarantine facilities because of an identified higher risk or they did not have suitable conditions to be monitored at home. Two persons are being monitored in hotels.
Seven persons are now in isolation, including the two who tested positive for COVID-19. The results of testing on the other five should be known later today.
Now Cuba confirms Coronavirus; Italian tourists test positive
CARACAS, Cuba
Cuba has joined the list of Caribbean countries with confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Public Health Ministry there said yesterday that three Italians have tested positive.
Another Italian who was travelling with them tested negative.
The four tourists had been staying at a hostel in the southern town of Trinidad after arriving in the capital on Monday.
They were taken to the hospital the following day with respiratory symptoms and yesterday three of them were found to be infected.
In the Caribbean, the number of countries reporting cases of COVID-19 are slowly increasing.
The first cases were recorded in the Dominican Republic, Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy less than two weeks ago.
Earlier this week, Jamaica confirmed two, Guyana recorded one – which resulted in the first death from the virus in the Caribbean – and St. Vincent and the Grenadines reported it had its first case.
(All stories condensed from Caribbean360 of Thursday, March 12, 2020)