GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — A doctor on the Lethem Regional Hospital COVID-19 Taskforce has confirmed that he has tested positive for the virus and is appealing to people to take the necessary steps to prevent being infected.

In a message posted on his Facebook page, Dr Narash Torres, who is working in the region nine area, said that despite taking all the necessary precautions, he tested positive on Sunday.

“I did several outreaches in the northern and southern sub-districts of region 9, which included implementation of precautionary measures, screening and swabbing. We worked under conditions no one will understand but us,” said Dr Torres, who has been part of the hospital’s team since the pandemic was first reported in Guyana in March.

He said he was tested for the virus after displaying mild symptoms and since then he has been removed from the frontline and is now in isolation being treated.

He said he is not worried about other health workers on the frontline in the Rupununi region since he is the second medical practitioner in the region to have been diagnosed to date.                                                                                

“Better must be done for us,” he wrote.

Health officials have been expressing concern about the growing number of illegal border movements between villages in region nine and Brazil. There have also been complaints about many residents in the region ignoring the health guidelines.

Dr Tarros said he wanted to appeal to people that the COVID-19 pandemic is real and unprecedented.

“I beg you all to take the necessary precautions,” he wrote.

Guyana has recorded 474 positive cases and 21 deaths from the virus that was first detected in China last December and linked to 18.2 infections and 692,000 deaths worldwide.