The Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) today called on the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) to ensure that the Guyana Brazil border remains closed at least for the next three months or until such time as it is safe to reopen to regular traffic.
The Rupununi’s first confirmed COVID-19 case was of a dual citizen who had entered Guyana illegally from Brazil.
In a release today, RCCI noted that two months ago, the Guyana Brazil international border at the Takutu River Bridge was officially closed to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.
Noting that Brazil is now the second most infected country in the world and in the State of Roraima the infection rate is increasing by almost 100 persons every day, RCCI said that on any normal day, hundreds of Brazilians from the Northern States would visit Lethem to shop and return home.
The Chamber contended that Guyana does not have the capacity to handle any drastic increase of the infection in this population hence the need to ensure the Guyana-Brazil border remains closed to people traffic until the situation in Brazil is under control.
