31.1 C
Belize City
Thursday, March 28, 2024

World Down Syndrome Day

Photo: Students and staff of Stella Maris...

BPD awards 3 officers with Women Police of the Year

Photo: (l-r) Myrna Pena, Carmella Cacho, and...

Suicide on the rise!

Photo: Iveth Quintanilla, Mental Health Coordinator by Charles...

Covid-19 update

HighlightsCovid-19 update

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Mar. 25, 2021– The Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) continues to call all persons 60 and over to get vaccinated at one of the authorized healthcare facilities across the country. At the start of this month, the MOHW officially commenced its inoculation program, calling all healthcare workers to receive their first jab of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines. To date, about 64% of all health workers have received their first shot.

As a part of the rollout, elderly persons and persons with specific medical conditions are also asked to get vaccinated. These persons make up Phase 1B and 1C of the rollout.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has utilized various public spaces as vaccination sites across the country. They also are reminding the general population that all vaccines are free of charge and that Ministry-approved centers are the only entities that are authorized to administer vaccines.

As of Thursday, March 25, 2021, a total of 12,411 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Belize since the start of the pandemic in our country. Of those cases, 12,052 infected persons have been classified as recovered. A total of 317 fatalities have been recorded as well, the most recent being logged on Wednesday, March 24. To date, a total of 96,043 tests have been conducted on around 87,476 persons.

On March 25, one new case of the virus was identified from a batch of 502 samples. Five new recoveries were recorded and two people were hospitalized. No new deaths were logged on that day.

The data presented on March 24 highlighted one new case, one recovery, 1 active hospitalization, and unfortunately, one death. A XX from XX. On that day a total of 541 tests were conducted on 526 persons. On Tuesday, March 23, 3 new cases were identified from a batch of 545 tests processed. Sixteen recoveries were recorded and no new deaths were logged. On that day, a total of 1,080 persons were vaccinated.

On March 22nd, 1,196 persons received their first jab.

Internationally, an EU diplomat has said that the company which manufactures the AstraZeneca vaccine reneged on a commitment to the EU by apparently approving the exportation of several million doses of the vaccines produced in EU territories to the UK.

The EU says that the company made commitments to ensure delivery to the EU of vaccines produced in plants located in EU territories. One of the vaccine plants in question, Halix, is located in the Netherlands. The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has reached out to various EU officials before a scheduled meeting with hopes of securing a positive vote for shipments of vaccines to the UK.

For its part, the AstraZeneca company denies the assertion by the EU that they promised to make their “best efforts” to carry out the delivery of vaccines to those territories. The company says that, in view of its limited production capacity, it is doing the best it can.

In the US, officials are warning citizens to continue to adhere to Covid-19 prevention protocols during the spring break. Travel and social interaction are expected to increase during that time. In Belize, with the Easter holiday just days away, officials from the Ministry of Health and Wellness are making a similar call to our citizens. Belizeans are being asked to limit social interaction with persons outside their immediate family during that holiday.

In India, a new “double mutant” variant of the Covid-19 virus has been identified. Reports are that the variant is not linked to a current spike in that country, but officials are trying to determine whether the double mutated variant may be more infectious and less affected by vaccines.

And in Brazil, a Covid-19 committee has been formed and launched in an effort to get a grip on the Covid-19 situation in the country.

Globally, according to the WHO, as of 7:25 p.m. CET, 25 March 2021, there have been 124,535,520 confirmed cases of COVID-19. A total of 2,738,876 deaths have been reported thus far. On the vaccine front, a total of 431,895,992 doses have been administered.

Check out our other content

World Down Syndrome Day

Suicide on the rise!

Check out other tags:

International