Four children succumbed to COVID in just the last few days in Guyana, taking their COVID related death total among children to 15, since the advent of the novel coronavirus.
This was confirmed by Guyana health officials on Monday January 17, as the country has not recorded a total of 1,905 deaths and 51,203 infections due to COVID-19.
Speaking during a daily COVID update, Guyana’s Minister for Health Dr. Frank Anthony said his ministry is presently investigating the death of the four children.
He said, “We would have seen the four deaths of children and this is something we will do some further investigation on, because of the four, three of the children arrived at the hospital, they were dead before arrival to the hospital.”
He added, “Within the ministry we have a small committee of doctors who are going to get those charts and review them more thoroughly and do some interviews with the family of these children, so hopefully that will give us a better understanding of what is happening.”
The health minister also apologised to the family of a four-year-old child who died as a result of COVID-19 in Mabaruma, Region One.
According to a news publication, the case recently received public attention, after images circulated on social media showcasing the father lifting the lifeless body of the toddler to a nearby cemetery.
Speaking on the viral incident Dr. Anthony said, “This is not the standard procedure … once the child, or anybody is pronounced dead, they are in the mortuary, and then there is an official hand over of the body to the family, in this case that did happen There is a vehicle that operates between the police and the Ministry of Health and so somebody ought to have assisted the family in getting the body to the cemetery or to the site of burial.”
“There was some mix up between the staff of the ministry and the police, and therefore this did not happen in a timely manner. They didn’t get the vehicle in a timely manner and apparently the family proceeded to bury the child,” Dr Anthony further explained.