The Ministry of Health sends COVID-19 test samples to CARPHA to test for new variants
Kaieteur News– The Ministry of Health has sent COVID-19 test samples taken in Guyana to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) based in Trinidad for testing for the new variants of COVID-19. This was announced by the Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, while performing the COVID-19 update on Friday.
The Minister had previously announced that Guyana does not currently have the capacity to test for the new variants in a public and private health organization
Health Minister,
Frank Anthony Dr.
itutions. Tests for the new variants require genetic sequencing, which cannot be done in Guyana, so several samples taken were sent to CARPHA because Guyana does not have the resources to do so.
Further, he revealed that additional test samples will be sent for testing shortly. Minister Anthony did not give an exact date for sending the samples, but noted that the results of the test samples sent could take more than a week.
Guyana has not reported any outbreaks of the new variants, due to the lack of resources available to carry out the necessary tests to confirm. The new variants include the United Kingdom strain commonly called B-117, the South African strain 501Y.V2 and the Brazilian strain known as P.1.
The Minister also noted that outbreaks of the new strain have already been reported in the Caribbean region.
“Yesterday, the Ministry of Health in Trinidad and Tobago reported that they had identified a B117 variant in Trinidad. They have reported that and so we are now being warned. This is probably the 2nd case we’ve had in the Caribbean with the first in Jamaica and now we have one in Trinidad and I suspect.
Once we start doing the genetic sequencing, we will find similar cases in other countries, ”Dr. Anthony.
In the meantime, he has urged that people continue to adhere to all COVID-19 regulations, especially the social distance protocols set out to prevent transmission. This is because the new variants are said to transmit at a higher speed.
Notably, people have been worried that COVID-19 variants are right in Guyana’s backyard, and the risks to them arriving in the country as the ability to test are already limited. The government has imposed restrictions to prevent the closest variant to Guyana, the P.1 variant in Brazil, from closing the border that has been in force since March last year.
However, the government has not restricted flights from the UK and noted that CARPHA (which provides guidance on the matter) has not recommended a travel restriction. It is also unclear whether Guyana receives direct flights from South Africa and what measures are in place for travel from Trinidad, as the country has a new variant in and near Guyana.