Manon Fossat 9:25 a.m., September 27, 2021

The health situation in Guyana is critical and worries the authorities.

The vaccination coverage of this overseas territory is indeed the lowest of the French regions, with Guadeloupe, only 30% of the population being vaccinated.

Guest of Europe Morning, Sébastien Lecornu, traveling on the island, gave the state of the situation on the spot.

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"Guyana has never recorded so many deaths and admissions in intensive care" since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, alerted the epidemiological bulletin of Public Health France on Friday.

Faced with this critical situation, the Minister of Overseas Territories, Sébastien Lecornu, went there.

Guest from Europe Morning on Monday, he notably returned to the position taken by Christiane Taubira, who refused to call on the Guyanese for vaccination.

The ex-minister in fact estimated last week that it was "not intended" to do so.

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"What is disturbing about Christiane Taubira is that her political career is made up of reason and clarity. The right and the extreme right have sometimes attacked her with unjust and unspeakable violence while we remembers all of her speeches about marriage for all, which she was able to explain. And what troubled a lot in her statement on the radio was to see that the vagueness prevailed. She corrected that by a tweet but it is clear that this episode testifies to the difficulty that we have in Guyana to say that it is necessary to be vaccinated ", he judged.

"Speak up on vaccination"

After his visit to Cayenne hospital on Saturday, Sébastien Lecornu also assured that the "situation is particularly tense" on this island where the epidemic has been raging since March 2020. "The under-vaccination of the population largely explains it. since the 21 people who lost their lives during these last seven days were not vaccinated. The hospital caregivers are facing the challenge and the health reserve is widely deployed, but it is clear that the situation is tense on the spot, "he continued.

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The Minister of Overseas Territories also assured to have provided support to caregivers, who are for some the target of anti-vax on the spot.

"I reminded them that they were right, that they were within their rights and that they were the face of the Republic. And I awarded a number of Legions of Honor and National Orders of Merit, because it is the least of things to say thank you and support them.It is also the role of a minister to come locally to speak out on vaccination so as not to leave them alone in the face of detractors who peddle fake news, ”he said.

The authorities have recorded more than 250 deaths linked to Covid-19 in Guyana since the start of the pandemic, a quarter of which in the past 45 days.