BELIZE CITY, Wed. July 13, 2022
When asked today by the media about the government’s response to the discovery of the most recent COVID-19 Omicron variant, BA.5, in Belize, Prime Minister Hon. John Briceño said that no COVID-19 lockdowns are expected.
“No, we’re not going to have a lockdown; that’s for sure. What the Ministry of Health informed the Cabinet is that the new variant, I only remember #5 — can’t keep up – that the new variant spreads faster, but it is less dangerous and the infection rate is now from 5 days to between 1 and 3 days,” the Prime Minister said (although it is possible that the severity of the symptoms of this most recent variant might equal, or possibly exceed, what has previously been seen in cases of Omicron infection).
Approximately 2.5% of the samples collected during the month of June were confirmed to be the Omicron BA.5 variant. In light of this new variant’s high transmissibility rate, it is likely that it spread through certain pockets of the local population might already be underway. Currently, it is one of the primary drivers of infection among persons in the United States, where BA.4 and BA.5 are the predominant subvariants.
However, instead of putting more extensive protocols in place to address the spread of the virus, the Prime Minister has said that the Minister of Health and Wellness is recommending that even more restrictions be rolled back — specifically those affecting unvaccinated citizens.
“The Ministry of Health has recommended to Cabinet yesterday to remove all the restrictions that we have had, when it comes, for instance, to the issue of vaccination. I mean, every adult that had wanted to get vaccinated could have gotten vaccinated; those have not is because they simply don’t want, and unless if we pass a law which would create other problems, we have decided to remove those restrictions and allow people – Belizeans— to be able to leave the country if they are not vaccinated,” PM Briceño said.
A significant percentage of the Belizean population remains unvaccinated for one reason or the other. Those persons, because they do not have vaccination cards, have been required to present negative COVID-19 test results before being allowed to travel or when returning to the country. These and other restrictions on those persons will be lifted, but PM Briceño said that the Health Ministry will continue moving forward with a vigorous campaign to further increase the public’s awareness of important safety measures.
“The Ministry of Health is going to continue with a very aggressive campaign — the mask-wearing when necessary, the physical distance and washing your hands, and also testing when necessary,” PM Briceño said.
A Cabinet release issued today stated, “Finally, Cabinet approved the removal of all public health measures at points of entry, but cautions that in light of the presence of the BA.2 and BA.5 subvariants in Belize, vaccines remain the best protection against severe disease and death from COVID-19. ”