Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll edges closer to the 1000 mark with one recent fatality taking the count to 998 since virus confirmation in March 2020. From statistics provided by the Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony today, males account for 540 fatalities, representing a 54% death rate. This means that for every 100 Guyanese lives lost to COVID-19, 54 were males.
Below is a regional breakdown of deaths:
Guyana has also recorded 77 new cases within the last 24 hours, taking the number of active cases to 1,283. There are 628 cases in Region Four (Demerara/ Mahaica) alone, with 221 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara) and 244 in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne).
VACCINATION
Health authorities have also managed to administer 1,914 booster shots since the campaign rollout more than a week ago. With initial concerns raised over the low uptake in supplementary shots, the Minister expressed optimism today that “things will pick up” with the campaign being rolled out in all the regions simultaneously.
“I think it’s now picking up. A lot of people are coming forward now. Initially it started off very slow and a couple of the regions didn’t start their booster campaign on time, but I think it’s going to be much better now,” he said.
So far, 402,142 adults have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This represents 78.4% of that category, with 280,637 (54.7%) receiving both doses. The minister added that 29,329 persons between the ages of 12 and 17 have taken a first dose and 20,539 receiving both jabs. This translates to 40.2% and 28.2% respectively, of this age cohort.