BELIZE CITY, Mon. July 19, 2021– Yesterday, the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority (KHMHA) announced that the KHMH will enter emergency mode on Monday July 19, due to a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country.

The hospital made the announcement via social media on Saturday evening. In the social media post, the KHMH informed the public that elective surgeries will be put on hold and the hospital’s outpatient clinic will be closed until further notice.

The hospital will also readjust its visitors’ policy to limit the number of persons entering the hospital in order to reduce the chances of any possible Covid-19 transmission.

The announcement states,”We ask the public’s kind cooperation and understanding as we transform our facility once again to guarantee the best patient care and outcomes in response to this pandemic.”

The hospital had entered emergency mode and suspended its auxiliary services in March of 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and remained in that mode until almost a year later, in early 2021, when the original emergency entrance of the facility was reopened.

The KHMH, as mentioned, is the national referral hospital and is on the frontline of Belize’s battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. The hospital’s retrofitted Covid-19 unit and intensive care unit are the most advanced in the country.