Georgetown: Medical authorities have confirmed that the coronavirus is in Guyana in the aftermath of the death of a 52-year-old woman at the Georgetown Public Hospital on Wednesday.
She was being treated from Tuesday based on “flu-like” symptoms as the Ministry of Public Health launched its investigations.
The Georgetown Hospital’s Emergency Unit was put into lockdown early Wednesday morning after the woman died.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud told a symposium Wednesday morning that as a result of new countries with confirmed cases, more stringent measures will be put in place for passengers entering Guyana.
Reports indicate that the female visited the hospital on Tuesday after returning from Queens, New York and she appeared to have “flu-like symptoms”. She was also diabetic and hypertensive.
Relatives of the woman could not confirm whether she had any contact with anyone who may have the COVID-19 virus.
Guyana currently has 26 persons under surveillance for the virus.
The spread of the coronavirus across more than 100 countries now qualifies as a global pandemic, World Health Organization officials said on Wednesday, confirming what many epidemiologists have been saying for weeks.
Until now, the W.H.O. had avoided using the term to describe the epidemic leapfrogging across the world, for fear of giving the impression that it was unstoppable and countries would give up on trying to contain it. The organization had said earlier in the outbreak that it no longer officially declared when an epidemic reaches pandemic proportions, preferring instead to declare global public health emergencies
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