Guyana closes two airports to international flights

GUYANA has closed two airports to all international flights for 14 days as it deals with covid19

They are the Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri and the Eugene Correia Airport at Ogle.

A report on the Guyana Newsroom said Director-General of the Civil Aviation Authority Egbert Field announced the decision at a news conference held by the ministerial task force on Tuesday.

Field said the only exceptions will be cargo flights, planes that have to make technical stops, and special authorised flights.

Local air travel will be allowed but will be closely monitored.

On Monday Guyana's education ministry announced that the National Grade Six Assessment have been postponed until further notice.

All schools were closed on Monday for two weeks. The ministry said schools and all the ministry's building will be sanitised to ensure that children, teachers and staff can "return to a safe and healthy learning and working environment,” a statement from the Education Ministry noted.

Also on Monday, a statement from the Protected Areas Commission and the National Parks Commission said the Georgetown Zoo will be closed from Tuesday until further notice. The statement said this is a part of efforts to safeguard and protect staff and citizens from the covid19 threat.

The statement also said the Botanical Gardens and the National Park will remain open as precautionary measures are taken to ensure public facilities are fully sanitised.

On March 11, Guyana President David Granger announced Guyana's first imported case of covid19. He said public gatherings and non-essential travel should be discouraged; competent agencies continue to patrol irregular border crossing; and sensitisation of key personnel at all air and seaports continued.

Granger also said screening remains in place for people arriving from high-risk countries: Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Brazil, French Guiana, Panama, St Vincent, US, China, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Iran

On March 14, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence confirmed three more cases of covid19 in Guyana. Last week, there were reports of panic buying in Georgetown after Guyana recorded its first covid19 case.