BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 29, 2020– Recent testing processed by the epidemiological unit at the Ministry of Health identified 116 new positive COVID-19 cases over the past 3 days. A cluster is currently being managed at the Kolbe Foundation’s Belize Central Prison, where 10 new positive cases were detected. The Ministry of Health also mentioned that eight cases were also recently identified among persons coming to Belize via the Philip Goldson International Airport. These persons are said to be second-home owners from San Ignacio.
The Office of the Director of Health Service (ODHS) has also reported that there have been two more COVID-19-related deaths. Both individuals are male persons from Orange Walk and both were diagnosed as being infected with COVID-19 during a post-mortem on their bodies. One of the two men was a 70-year-old man from Orange Walk who passed away on October 26, and the second death was that of a 38-year-old resident of Guinea Grass village, who died on October 28 before receiving any treatment. Our fatality rate currently stands at 1.59 percent.
As of October 28, 2020, 3261 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in-country. Of these cases, 1133 (34.7 percent) remain active. A total of 2076 persons have recovered so far, and 52 deaths have been recorded. On October 28, 189 samples were processed and 29 new cases were found. Of the 13 positive samples found in the Belize District, 8 were from persons entering the country through the Philip Goldson International Airport (PGIA). Five new cases were found in Cayo and Stann Creek respectively. Four cases were found in Toledo and two new cases were found in Orange Walk on that day (October 28).
Thirty-two new cases were found in a batch of 157 samples on October 27. Of those new cases, 15 were found across villages in the Orange Walk District, and of the 11 cases identified in the Belize District on that day, 8 were found at the Belize Central Prison. (The Ministry of Health completed a further sweep of the prison recently.) Four new cases were found in Corozal and two in Stann Creek. In total, 14 persons recovered on that day.
Fifty-five new cases were detected on October 26 from a batch of 246 samples. Twenty-six of those cases were found in Orange Walk, 8 in Cayo, 6 in Corozal and Toledo respectively, and 7 in the Belize District. Seventy cases are reported to have recovered on that day.
The northern districts are still recording a high number of active cases. The active case distribution data released on October 26 by the ODHS shows 335 active cases in the Orange Walk District, 286 in Corozal, 228 in the Belize District, 113 in Cayo, 40 in Stann Creek, and 81 in Toledo. As mentioned, 34.7 percent of cases remain active.