(newssource.gy) – The children and other relatives of the couple, including a daughter who flew into Guyana after the mother’s death, have all been placed in self-quarantine and are being monitored closely, News Source understands.
News Source understands the test was ordered after the man started to show more signs of the illness over the past 24hrs. He is now in full quarantine.
Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence confirmed the positive test result to News Source this afternoon.
She said she has informed the President of the latest development and will also be informing Guyana’s health partners across the Caribbean.
The children and other relatives of the couple, including a daughter who flew into Guyana after the mother’s death, have all been placed in self-quarantine and are being monitored closely, News Source understands.
The husband who has now tested positive had accompanied his wife and a son on a flight from New York on the 7th March.
By the 10th March, the 52-year-old woman complained of feeling unwell and was first taken to the Balwant Singh Hospital.
She was examined by a Doctor at the Balwant Singh Hospital who concluded that she had symptoms of the coronavirus but his hospital does not have the capacity to carry out tests. The family was told to take her to the Georgetown Hospital.
At the Georgetown Hospital, the Doctors and Nurses were only told of the woman being diabetic and a hypertension case. It was only after she died, the family informed the medical team of her recent travel from Queens, New York.
That revelation forced the Georgetown Hospital to immediately require a test of samples from her body as they locked down the emergency unit.
The test results came back positive on the night of the 11th March, forcing the self-quarantine of 14 doctors and nurses who were exposed to the virus because they dealt directly with the woman when she was taken to the emergency room.
Since then, the Balwant Singh Hospital has since ordered the doctor, nurses and attendants who dealt with her at that hospital into self-quarantine. And Caribbean Airlines has also sent 13 of its crewmembers into self-quarantine because they worked on the two flights that the woman took to Guyana from New York.
News Source has learnt that the husband developed a fever and started to show other signs of the coronavirus on Friday and that triggered the test. There are now concerns that other relatives and persons may have been exposed since the man did not obey the self-quarantine instructions.
There are reports that the day after his wife died, the man reportedly turned up with his son at the US Embassy to complain to officials about the wife’s death. Aware of the situation, the embassy officials refused to allow him access into the embassy but told him he should call.
The Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy told News Source she could not comment on the matter, citing privacy concerns.
The Public Health Ministry has set up hotline numbers for persons who may have symptoms of the coronavirus. Those numbers are 227-4986 or 624-3067.
Since Guyana recorded its first case of the coronavirus, a number of other Caricom countries have recorded cases including Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, St. Lucia and Suriname.
Jamaica has seen a rise in the number of cases in that island.