President Granger establishes ministerial task force to address COVID-19

President David Granger, this afternoon, convened a meeting of ministers to better coordinate Government’s action plan in response to the presence of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Guyana.

A ministerial task force headed by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and including Minister of Public Health, Ms. Volda Lawrence; Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry; Minister of Communities, Mr. Ronald Bulkan; Minister of Public Security, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan; Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Basil Williams SC; Minister of Public Infrastructure, Mr. David Patterson; Minister of Finance, Mr. Winston Jordan and Minister of Citizenship, Mr. Winston Felix, has been established in this regard.

President Granger said today’s briefing is a follow-up to one held on January 28, 2020 by officials of the Ministry of Public Health and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) on COVID-19. The team had briefed Cabinet on Guyana’s preparedness to deal with any case of the Novel Coronavirus, which at that time was centered in China.

The team of medical professionals, which included Dr Shamdeo Persaud – Chief Medical Officer; Dr. Karen Boyle-Campbell – Deputy Chief Medical Officer; Ms. Collette Adams – Permanent Secretary, MOPH; Dr. Fawcett Jeffrey – Director of Medical and Professional Services, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and Dr. Tracey Bovell – Mass Casualty Specialist, GPHC as well as Dr. William Adu-Krow, PAHO-WHO’s Country Representative in Guyana, provided an insight to the rise of the Novel Coronavirus.

Guyana confirmed its first imported case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Wednesday, March 11, 2020.

The President said since then, measures have been put in place to prevent the risk of the virus spreading. President Granger urged all Guyanese to remain calm and to implement all advisories issued by the authorities relative to personal hygiene and social distancing.