− celebrate the season with safety in mind, Min. Anthony
Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony is pleading with citizens to ensure the safety of their family and friends even as they indulge in festivities during Christmas.
Making the appeal during Friday’s COVID-19 update, Minister Anthony also wished citizens a peaceful and good holiday season.
“I just want to wish everyone a joyous holiday season, and a safe one because we are into the pandemic and we all need to take precautions, we need to keep our distance, we need to sanitise, and if we take these simple measures, we’re certainly going to remain safe for the holidays.”
Minister Anthony stressed that everyone must celebrate the season with safety in mind.
“This is extremely challenging because it’s the first time that we are experiencing a pandemic, but this disease can spread quite easily, and if we don’t take precautions, unfortunately, a lot more people would get sick, so, think about the safety of ourselves, our family and our friends,” Dr. Anthony urged.
He said of the persons who contract the COVID-19 virus, 80 per cent of them usually get sick while the remaining 20 per cent would require hospitalisation. He added that, unfortunately, those individuals worsen in the absence of a specific medication to treat the coronavirus.
“That’s why it’s important that we get people to understand that they have to take precautions to remain safe.”
Minister Anthony said hope was on the horizon with several COVID-19 vaccines already being given emergency authorisation. Guyana will access its COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX Facility. COVAX is an international vaccines mechanism which aims to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country during the pandemic.