Minister of Health, Hon. Dr Frank Anthony says the field hospital donated by Qatar is not yet operable as Guyana has adequate medical facilities to handle the number of COVID-19 patients who need hospitalisation.
The Minister made this statement during his daily COVID-19 update.
“As you know, we have the Ocean View facility which has adequate capacity. If there’s a need for us to set up the hospital then we will do so,” he said.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention at Liliendaal has a 25-bed capacity in the Intensive Care Unit. Only critically ill COVID-19 patients from across the country are transferred there for treatment as regional hospitals have been equipped to administer care for persons suffering from the disease.
During a recent press conference, Vice President, Hon. Dr Bharat Jagdeo said the Government is committed to fighting the pandemic locally. He highlighted that Guyana has boosted its COVID-19 testing capacity, medical response and vaccination efforts to safeguard the nation’s health.
Recently the Government has procured an oxygen tank for the ICU at the Liliendaal facility.
“We built up the capacity. They brought in a tank at Liliendaal because they did not have a tank; they had these smaller bottles you had to replace every two hours or so. So, we got the tank in now,” he said.
Additionally, the Government has trained more health personnel to administer Covid care.
The portable field hospital arrived in January at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport on board a Boeing C-17 Globemaster jet from Qatar. The arrival of the hospital followed discussions between President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani via telephone, where he pledged to provide the facility to aid Guyana’s Covid fight.