Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo has expressed disappointment in the way the former regime, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), dealt with the Coronavirus Disease. He revealed that when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) took office, there were only 2,000 test kits available.
Jagdeo said that after Cabinet was sworn in, government representatives met with health officials to assess Guyana’s situation.
The former president said that it was shocking to find “deficiencies” in the country’s plan to curb the spread of the virus. He said that there was no fixed number for daily tests, and heath officials were oblivious about the country‘s testing, quarantine and isolation capabilities.
The government, upon identifying these deficiencies, began reaching out to the international community. He said that some 10,000 kits were received from Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley. Those kits came into the county with the delegation that attended President Irfaan Ali’s inauguration ceremony.
Jagdeo noted, too, that the Ministry of Health has also embarked on getting additional testing machines.
He added that an additional 50,000 testing kits will arrive in Guyana shortly.
The Vice President said that the systems put in place by the former regime to manage the pandemic were found to be highly politicized. He noted that teams were not led by “competent” people, but rather, unexperienced political appointees.
