President Ali receives courtesy call from Patricia Scotland

Guyana: The President of the Guyana Caribbean island received a virtual courtesy call from the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, on Monday. The Guyanese President and the Commonwealth Secretary-General held discussions about the current COVID-19 situation in the island country and the priority areas for the development of Guyana. President Ali was accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Honourable Hugh Todd.Guyana so far has reported a total of 22,523 infection cases of the COVID-19 mutant, out of which in total 21,183 patients have been recovered from the deadly virus. A total of 541 individuals so far have died on the Caribbean island amid the contagious novel coronavirus pandemic. According to the statistics, as of 29 July 2021, a total of 250,712 individuals have received their first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is around 32 per cent of the total Guyanese population. On the other hand, so far, in total, 138,624 people have taken their second dose of the novel coronavirus vaccine, which is around 17.7 per cent of the total population of the Caribbean island country. In addition, the government recently announced some new COVID-19 testing requirements for travellers. Only fully vaccinated individuals against the COVID-19 virus would be allowed to enter the island country. The government of Guyana stated that every fully vaccinated traveller would have to follow the COVID-19 travel protocols of the island country and informed that the visitors who have taken mixed required doses of the COVID-19 vaccines would also be considered fully vaccinated against the mutant.President Ali has also urged the citizens to abide by the COVID-19 health protocols and take their dose of the novel coronavirus vaccine as soon as possible in order to fight and defeat the contagious mutant. Patricia Scotland is a British - Dominican diplomat, barrister & politician who is serving as the 6th Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations. Patricia was elected at the - 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and assumed office on 1 April 2016. She is also the first woman to hold the post.