Flights are not allowed between Brazil, Guyana – Health Minister

COVID-19 Variants

… 58 cases recorded in 1 day

The Government has tightened security in border regions after the detection of COVID-19 variants in Brazil – this also extends to flights between the Portuguese-speaking nation.
Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony noted during the coronavirus update on Friday that officials were trying to acquire more information about the virus before opening activities. In recent weeks, the P.1 and P.2 variants were detected in Brazil, causing Guyana to stop traveling on the border.
“As we tighten the land border, we also want to ensure, for the time being, that we restrict flights arriving from Brazil and vice versa. Therefore, all flights are now limited. We want to know more about those variations before we make other pronunciations, ”said the Minister.
On Thursday, there is little trade between the two countries but throughout the week, border patrols closely monitor the individuals entering Guyana illegally. The Minister argued that other countries had already restricted flights to and from Brazil, fearing the transfer of the new variants.
“We are not the first country to restrict these flights. There are other countries that have done that. Again, he is concerned about the new variations circulating. We would evaluate and make those decisions about when to reopen flights back. “
The only preventative measures against the new variant are the proper wearing of masks, sanitation and proper hand washing at all times. Aside from the variation in Brazil, two others were found in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The UK has already banned flights from South America, amid reports of the Brazilian variant.
New cases
On Friday, the total incidence of the new coronavirus is 7528, after 58 new positives were discovered. As infections have risen, active cases have exceeded 800.
The daily dashboard showed the number of deaths remaining in 175. One person was removed from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which now has six patients.
There are 42 institutionalized unaccompanied patients, 764 at home and 13 institutional quarantine. Recoveries are now 6541. About 48,309 people were tested – 3894 men and 3694 women were positive.
Regional analysis showed that one new case was found in Region One (Barima-Waini), three in Region Three (Essequibo-West Demerara Islands), 46 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), one in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), five in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and two in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
There were no disclosures in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Essequibo Upper) which remained at 225, 609, 233 and 409 respectively.
Speaking about the huge increase in cases seen throughout January, the Health Minister said this was due to public complacency during the Christmas season. Despite warnings, he noted, many people chose to break the measures and this is the effect.
“We warned people during December that we are going to see a spike in January if they don’t take precautions. Unfortunately, many people did not listen to our call and we see a spike in cases. Coming closer to the end of December, we had approximately 350 active cases. We are now up to 816 cases so you would have seen that increase over a very short period of time because people were not adhering to these guidelines we have established, ”he said.
Dr Anthony reiterated that public co-operation is essential to bring the situation under control as the Ministry cannot achieve this feat on its own.
“We would all need to take on responsibilities. It is not a battle that the Ministry of Health can only hold or one side of people while others do as they please. Everyone had to get involved and when everyone does the right thing, then we are all protected. ”(G12)