BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 1, 2020– According to data released by the Office of the Director of Health Services (DHS), 42 residential communities in the Northern Health Region have recorded one or more active case of COVID-19.
Currently, the Ministry of Health is actively monitoring clusters in the Corozal and Orange Walk Districts, and it has been reported that the clusters of infections have primarily surfaced among soldiers who were tested at a BDF camp.
The death count in Belize currently stands at 27 – with three new fatalities having been reported since our last update. On September 29, the infographic shared by the Office of the DHS reported the deaths of two persons from the Orange Walk District who succumbed to COVID-19 complications.
Sixty-six-year-old Edwardo Castillo, a resident of Yo Creek, died on Monday, the same day he was admitted to the Northern Regional Hospital (NRH) in a critical condition.
He is predeceased by his mother, Paula Castillo, who also died from COVID-19 complications around mid-September. The second passing was that of a female patient in her 70’s, who was previously admitted to the NRH.
On September 30, the DHS said that an 80-year-old man died on the day that he was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH).
At this point, the total number of deaths (27) equates to a fatality rate of 1.3 %.
Currently, two persons remain intubated at the ICU of the KHMH. Also, recent data shows that 36.1% of COVID-19 cases (about 719 persons) are still active within the country.
In total, there have been 1,992 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and we have had 1,246 recoveries. On Wednesday, September 30, 49 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were found within a batch of 184 samples processed.
In Cayo, 1 new case was identified; while 3 cases were found in Stann Creek and 5 in Corozal. The Belize and Toledo District each recorded 12 new cases and 16 were found in Orange Walk. Twenty-one recoveries were recorded on that day.
On September 29, 224 samples were processed by the surveillance teams at the Ministry of Health; and among these samples, 52 new cases were identified. Nine of these new cases were found in the Belize and Orange Walk Districts, 8 were found in Cayo and 7 in Corozal.
Toledo recorded 1 new case on that day. A total of 17 recoveries were also reported. On September 28, 37 new cases were found within a batch of 115 samples. Five of these were found in the Belize District, 6 in Cayo and 26 in Orange Walk. Twelve recoveries were also reported on that day.
With the opening of the airport, the Ministry of Health is actively engaged with stakeholders in adequately managing the influx of tourists and residents expected to enter the country. A testing facility capable of accommodating 12 persons has been set up on the airport compound. This and other measures have been put in place to prevent any transmission of the virus from travelers entering Belize to persons in the community.