only 10 samples were ever sent for variant testing; these were sent at the beginning of this year and returned negative.
In August, Dr. Anthony said that the local authorities were assuming that the variants, including the deadly Delta variant, were circulating in Guyana. And, he said that there was no need to test for these variants if the local authorities were already making this assumption.
In light of this new information, on Wednesday, the Health Minister was questioned when these samples were sent for testing. His response was: “It was some time ago, I can’t remember the exact date.”
Guyana experienced the worst surge of COVID-19 deaths and infections in October and November and Dr. Anthony attributed this to the assumed presence of the deadly Delta variant.
During his daily COVID-19 update on Tuesday, Dr. Anthony said that the local health authorities have developed a relationship with CARPHA and the Pan- American Health Organization (PAHO) and would explore the need to test for the new Omicron variant of COVID-19. (Vishani Ragobeer)
