BELIZE CITY, Mon. Apr. 12, 2021– The Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) is investigating the first death believed to be related to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine jab in Belize. A 53-year-old fisherman died just four hours after receiving his first jab. The Ministry is currently awaiting the results of a postmortem exam on the fisherman’s body to ascertain whether or not he had any underlying conditions.
The Covid-19 vaccination program continues in Belize. As of April 9, 2021, a total of 27,353 persons have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. On that day, a total of 3,398 persons were vaccinated.
On April 13th, phase 3A and 3B of the vaccination program will commence. Security services personnel such as BDF, Coast Guards, Firefighters and Red Cross workers are invited to get their first dose of vaccination. Persons in phase 3B include those persons 50 and over with co-morbidities.
The MOHW is calling all persons eligible to receive vaccines in phase 2 to get vaccinated. This means all other persons working in the Tourism industry. With the first set of schools having reopened, they have also sounded the call for more teachers to come out to receive their vaccination.
At this time, the number of cases of COVID-19 in the country remains low, and is now almost at the level of non-existence.
Data released by the Ministry of Health and Wellness on Friday, April 9, indicated that 0 new cases were found after a batch of 613 tests was carried out. Two new recoveries were recorded, and one infected person was hospitalized. That person was in need of intensive care. Fortunately, no new deaths related to the virus were recorded.
On Monday, April 12, the Ministry of Health and Wellness released data from over the weekend. Of a total of 1753 tests, 16 new cases were found. A total of 14 recoveries were recorded, and 3 persons were hospitalized. No fatality due to the virus were recorded on that day and no person was indeed of intensive case.
Since the start of the pandemic in Belize, a total of 12,503 cases have been recorded in Belize. The frontline workers inside the Epidemiological Unit from the Ministry of Health and Wellness have processed over 106,371 tests since the start of testing last year. Of the total number of persons infected in Belize since the start of the epidemic, a total of 12,134 or 97% % of persons have recovered. The country has unfortunately recorded the death of 318 persons, who died from complications related to the coronavirus. Of those persons who died, 209 were men, and 109 were women.
At this time a total of 41 active cases are presently in the country.
Regionally, Brazil is still seeing a deadly surge in Covid-19 daily infections and deaths. Government officials have opted to reopen schools, sporting events, and construction stores despite warnings. In Rio de Janeiro, the capital, bars and restaurant are scheduled to reopen — undoing restrictions that were put in place just last month.
Globally, a total of 135,646,617 confirmed cases have been recorded as of 2:37 pm CEST, 12 April 2021 by the WHO. Of that number, 2,930,732 deaths, have been reported to WHO. As of 11 April 2021, a total of 687,681,317 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.