Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 05, 2020 News
Guyana and other countries across the globe are witnesses to the daunting impact of the novel coronavirus [COVID-19] which emerged last year in Wuhan, China.
This virus has sinc
e expanded its reach to more than 50 countries. More than 80,000 persons have been confirmed infected with the virus and in excess of 2,000 deaths have been linked to it.
The local health sector has put measures in place that are expected to help reduce Guyana’s potential of being faced with an outbreak. Although there have been some suspected cases, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, assured recently that Guyana has not confirmed a single case.
As he spoke of a contingency plan activated to deal with the health threat, Dr. Persaud said, “We are looking at beefing up our system altogether”.
He, however, noted that the onus is on individuals to also take responsibility for their own health. In so doing, Dr. Persaud, who was at the time speaking on Kaieteur Radio’s [99.1, 99.5 FM] Your Health Matters, stressed the importance of hand-washing.
“We cannot overstate that you must wash your hands as often as you can… You go out, you go into the public domain, you travel in a bus, you hold a door handle, you visit a public office; transmission of these organisms go by touch,” the CMO explained.
Based on information released by the World Health Organisation [WHO], Dr. Persaud said that the virus may have a life span of about four to six hours outside of the body. And since it requires a cell within a specified timeframe to unleash its potentially deadly scourge, persons have to be especially wary about being exposed.
Detailing a scenario that could lead to infection, Dr. Persaud said persons could become exposed to the virus if they come in contact with the cold or mucus of someone infected with the virus.
That infected person, he explained, could aid transmission by touching a door handle with their unwashed hands.
“If you come after them, you may never even come in direct contact with that person, but you held the same door handle they did and if you put your hands on your face, rub your eyes or something and it gets into your body that can be the start of an infection.”
With transmission being so easy, Dr. Persaud said that hand-washing is viewed as particularly critical in the fight against the coronavirus.
“We know the usual drill: wash your hands before eating, after using the toilet but now we are saying expand that a little…wash your hands as often as you can, especially when you come into contact with things like keys, money, coins, objects that we share with each other such as pens. This is how this virus can be passed on…you can’t be too careful,” said the CMO.
Added to this, he said that the Ministry is emphasising “good cough etiquette”. The coronavirus is said to manifest with symptoms ranging from a cough to pneumonia. Once a cough sets in, Dr. Persaud’s warned, “Don’t cough about, and everyone should cover their mouth [when they do cough].
“Use your sleeves, a paper towel, try not to use your bare hands [to cover your mouth] as far as possible and even if you do cough or sneeze, you discard of it [paper towel] and you wash your hands.
“Some people would rinse their face, mouth, and those kind of measures, I think, would go a far way,” said Dr. Persaud.
He is urging that young children, especially those in schools, be taught and encouraged to practise hand-washing.
WHO has also been advocating for persons to be cautious when it comes to their food intake in light of the fact that initial indications suggest that the virus entered human being via animal sources.
Despite ascertaining that the virus is now being transmitted from person to person, WHO has continued to emphasise the need for food safety.
“Ensure you eat freshly prepared foods and if you have to store it, within two hours, you should put it into an appropriate container in your refrigerator.
“If you are going to use that food subsequently, make sure to heat it thoroughly whether it is in the microwave, whether it is on the stove top, heat thoroughly so that you can get rid of any organisms,” said Dr. Persaud.
According to the CMO, “This is a good chance for us to really up our game when it comes to personal hygiene and hygiene generally.”
In an attempt to safeguard themselves, too, some persons have been buying up face masks but, according to Dr. Persaud, “at this point, we are not emphasising that persons go around wearing mask; most of the masks available offer limited protection against these small organisms [viruses].”
He added, “If we do need to go there, we will advise the public but for now those measures are secondary.”
But should persons prefer to wear masks, the CMO said that the ideal type that the Ministry and PAHO/WHO have recommended for use is the N95 type.
“The others, the cloth type [for example], just stick on, and you see people walking about with them but it might just give a false sense of protection because it doesn’t offer the full protection against small organisms like this coronavirus,” said Dr. Persaud.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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