BELIZE CITY. Thurs. June 3, 2021– Since our last Covid-19 update, two new deaths related to the virus were recorded. The country is seeing a slight increase in recorded infections, but Ministry of Health officials are more concerned about the number of hospitalizations being logged. Currently, a total of 8 infected persons have been hospitalized at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH), with at least 2 needing intensive care.
Today, during an interview, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Hon. Michel Chebat, said that 15.7% of our population — around 57,000 persons, have received at least their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine since the start of our inoculation program.
At this time, the Health Ministry is at phase three of the vaccination rollout, but Minister Chebat stated that any person eligible to receive the vaccine can get the jab. Over the past week he received the second dose of the vaccine.
Phase 4 of the vaccine program rolls out next week. Minister Chebat is urging teachers to get vaccinated, after several schools have shut down to do deep cleaning following the detection of cases, mainly in teachers.
On Friday, May 28, the Ministry recorded a new fatality, a man from the Orange Walk District. On that day, two new cases were found from a batch of 742 tests processed. Of the 3 persons hospitalized, 2 needed intensive care. Two recoveries were also recorded.
Over the weekend, from May 29 to the 31st, the Health Ministry found 18 new cases from a batch of 1243 tests processed. Four persons were hospitalized at the time, and two of them needed intensive care. Thirty recoveries were recorded and no new deaths were logged on that day.
On June 1, a total of 10 new cases were found from 538 tests processed. Nine new recoveries and 6 hospitalizations were logged, with two persons needing intensive care at the hospital. On that day, one person passed away due to complications from the virus — a woman from the Belize District.
Approximately 610 new tests were processed on Tuesday, June 2, with 14 cases being identified. Of the eight hospitalizations on that day, only one person needed intensive care. Eleven recoveries were recorded and fortunately there were no new deaths.
The most recent data as of June 3 shows a total of 12,840 cases across the country since the start of the pandemic. Sixty-nine cases remain active, and the death count has risen to 325. A total of 12,434 persons have recovered from the virus.
On that day, June 3, 7 new cases were found from a batch of 681 tests processed. Six recoveries were logged, and 4 persons were admitted to the hospital, 1 needing intensive care.
Today, the Minister of Health and Wellness also announced that the country would be receiving its next batch of Covid-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility sometime next week — just in time for the rollout of phase four of our inoculation program in the country.
Globally, the United States’ Biden administration announced that they would distribute a stockpile of 25 million unused vaccines globally. Reports are that 70% of the donation will go to the COVAX global vaccine-sharing program.
“The White House said six million doses will be directed to Mexico, Canada, and South Korea, West Bank and Gaza, Ukraine, Kosovo, Haiti, Georgia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Yemen, as well as for United Nations front-line workers,” an Aljazeera article noted.
With our land borders now open to tourists, widespread vaccination becomes notably important to reduce the risk of community spread inside Belize again.
Recent studies show that persons who have been infected with the virus are protected from a new infection for up to 10 months or so.
“A team at University College London and other UK-based institutions analyzed data on 682 residents and 1,429 staff members from long-term care facilities in England between October and February. Some of the residents and staff were thought to have had Covid-19 in the past because they tested positive for antibodies in blood samples collected between June and November,” CNN’s Jacqueline Howard reported.
The deadly virus continues to affect the world, with 471,828 cases being recorded within the last 7 days globally.
As of June 3, a total of 171,292,827 confirmed cases have been identified. Of that number 3,687,589 deaths have been reported to WHO. A total of 1,581,509,628 persons have received at least the first jab of a Covid-19 vaccine.