By Marvin Cato
ROSE HALL, GUYANA — A third academic institution in Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne) has confirmed a cluster of COVID-19 infections within the span of a week, triggering immense anxiety along the Corentyne corridor over a potential regional outbreak.
The latest spike centers on the Lower Corentyne Secondary School in Rose Hall Town, where more than 10 students have tested positive for the virus. According to school administrators, the initial index case was detected last Friday. However, by Sunday, diagnostic sweeps confirmed that additional students had contracted the virus, prompting immediate escalation to the Region 6 Department of Education.
In response to the sudden cluster, school activities have been temporarily suspended to facilitate complete fumigation and chemical sanitization of the school compound. The Ministry of Education has advised parents, teachers, and students across the district to re-implement strict precautionary measures, including the mandatory wearing of face masks.
Mehalai Mcalmont, Regional Councillor for East Berbice-Corentyne representing A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), described the unfolding health situation not as an isolated incident, but as a deeply worrying trend.
“The fact that it’s in our schools, it tells us that it’s in our homes as well because we haven’t been able to get a widespread testing going on in the region,” Mcalmont stated during an exclusive interview with HGP Nightly News. “If there is a number of cases… generally we should have had by now a rollout of testing done.”
The cluster at the Lower Corentyne Secondary School closely follows recently confirmed infections at the GuySuCo Training College in Port Mourant and the Port Mourant Primary School. Fortunately, regional educators confirmed that none of the infected students are critically ill, with all currently documented cases classified as completely asymptomatic.
Despite the rising infection rate across three distinct schools, senior regional medical administrators have remained completely tight-lipped. Repeated attempts by HGP Nightly News to obtain an official comment from the Minister of Health and the Regional Health Officer regarding containment strategies and public testing sites proved entirely unsuccessful, with official calls unanswered and emergency voice messages left ignored.
The administrative silence drew sharp rebukes from former Minister of Health, Dr. Karen Cummings. The medical doctor urged both central government and regional health authorities not to let their guards down or hide data from the public.
“They must recognize that there seems to be a re-emergence of COVID, and so they have to continue to do public health education,” Dr. Cummings warned. She emphasized that regional health officials must aggressively step up public health enforcement, while reminding citizens to strictly practice fundamental personal hygiene and community sanitation to blunt the spread of the virus.
