A new appeal has been made in Guyana for persons to get vaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19), with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nation revealing it has recorded 160 new cases.

According to Frank Anthony, Guyana’s minister of health, 25 new cases were registered over the past 24 hours and six persons were hospitalised.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, Guyana has recorded 1,285 deaths and 71,650 infections.

Stressing that there has been a notable spike in cases over the past two weeks, and that hospitalisations have also been increasing, Anthony urged the public to take all necessary precautions against the virus.

His appeal comes as concerns about and precautions against COVID-19, in the region and across the world, have become minimal to non-existent in nations refusing to entertain any possibility of returning to the restrictions experienced earlier the still ongoing pandemic.

Anthony urged citizens to take personal responsibility in protecting themselves against infection by following preventative measures that have been put in place by the government over the last two years.

“For example, mask-wearing, avoiding crowded places, etc, because these are the basic non-pharmaceutical measures one can use in terms of preventing COVID,” he said.

GET TESTED IF YOU HAVE FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS

The minister noted that the variants of the virus that are currently circulating mimic the influenza virus, which can lead to persons mistakenly thinking they have the flu.

Frank added that it is therefore important that individuals who experience flu-like symptoms get tested for COVID-19.

“Unfortunately, we do not see a lot of persons coming in to be tested although we have a number of testing sites. What would help is people getting vaccinated [because] we have seen a significant drop in vaccination rates. We are encouraging people who are older and/or those who have underlying medical conditions to get vaccinated.”.

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