As Guyana continues to deal with increased cases of coronavirus, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony revealed today that since the start of the pandemic in Guyana, more than 500 children under the age of 14 years have tested positive.
The Minister said children are mostly asymptomatic and therefore would have no symptoms of the virus. He said it was through contact tracing that the cases in children were detected.
“We have detected a number of children who have come back positive. In terms of the age categories, from 0 to 5, we have 114 children who have tested positive over the duration since we started, between the ages of 5 to 9 we have 176 children and between the ages of 10 to 14 we have 247 children. Again, we have not had any serious ailments with children. Most of them were asymptomaic and they recovered at home”, Minister Anthony said.
On the issue of vaccination, the Health Minister revealed that the two vaccines which have been given the all clear in the fight against the coronavirus cannot be used to immunize children since they cater for persons above the age of 16 years.
Schools in Guyana have been closed since last March.
Classes restarted for senior students preparing for regional examinations a few months ago. Since then, a number of teachers and students, mostly at dorm schools, have tested positive.
The Health Ministry continues to encourage parents to safeguard their children against coronavirus because while they might not showcase any symptoms of the virus and would recover easily, older members of the household could get a different result.
In the past 24hrs, Guyana has recorded 43 new cases of coronavirus.
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