GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC)— The Guyana government Friday urged parents to protect their children, especially those with underlying health conditions, as the country continued to express concern over children being infected with the coronavirus (COVID-19).

“Children with medical conditions such as cancers and so forth, it is recommended that they wear the medical types of masks, because it’s trying to protect them from getting these infections. Other children who are relatively healthy should and can wear the cloth mask,” said Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony.

“So, we should encourage children to wear masks, especially in the light, right now globally, you have the Delta variant that is currently circulating and with this particular variant, anyone who is unvaccinated would be at risk, which includes children,” Dr Anthony said while addressing the daily COVID-19 update.

Currently there are seven children in the COVID-19 wards and 10 adults in the Intensive Care Unit at the COVID hospital.

The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines state that children five years and above should wear a mask, while the US-based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued its guidelines, stipulating that children two years and over should wear a mask.

Guyana’s COVID-19 guidelines state that everyone over the age of eight years, must wear a mask whenever in public and Dr Anthony advised against using a face shield as an alternative to a mask.

“Face shield is just a physical barrier. When you wear a mask, especially those like the medical mask, they are specially designed, so depending on which type you’re using, they probably would have three layers and they’re specially designed to prevent small particles from getting into your respiratory tract.

“With an N95 mask, it has about five layers, so it protects you. So, they’re not the same thing and therefore, if you use a face shield and somebody sneezes, maybe it stops the physical droplet from getting to you. But if you were in a room where aerosols are circulating, you can breathe them in, so it’s not the same thing,” Dr Anthony added.

He is urging parents and guardians to abide by the COVID-19 guidelines established by the government, to reduce their children’s risk of contracting the deadly disease.

Under the guidelines, all persons 18 years and older are also encouraged to visit any of the Ministry of Health’s vaccination sites and to take the vaccine, to protect themselves from the virus that has killed 506 and infected 21,274 others since March last year.