BELIZE CITY, Thurs. July 29, 2021– A recent infographic released by the Ministry of Health and Wellness revealed a steady increase in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Belize District. Recent data shows as many as 103 new cases being detected in the Belize District since our last update, with a majority of those cases being within Belize City.
Over just the past week, 4 more deaths, of two males and two females, reportedly occurred as a result of the coronavirus.
Also, the Government of Belize has directed the Police Department to begin an investigation into the suspected sale of fake Covid-19 vaccination cards, allegedly by healthcare personnel. At least one nurse is among the persons who are believed to be the subjects of the investigation.
On the vaccination front, this week the United Kingdom announced that it would be donating Covid-19 vaccines to the country of Belize as a part of their commitment to provide vaccines to developing countries. With a huge chunk of the population on the British Isle having been vaccinated, that nation is now getting involved in the effort to vaccinate the global population.
In other Covid-19-related news, since Tuesday of this week, Belize City mayor Bernard Wagner has been in insolation, as he recovers from the coronavirus. Today, the Belize City Council confirmed that he tested positive for COVID-19 but has not shown any serious symptoms. He received his first dose of the vaccine in late June.
At the end of July, just two days away, the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ regulation which mandates frontline workers to be tested bi-weekly if they are unvaccinated will come into effect. Those frontline workers whose professions are among the eleven types of frontline work listed by SI 74 will have to either get vaccinated or be subject to a costly, uncomfortable test every two weeks.
Today, July 29, the Health Ministry said that 45 new cases of COVID-19 were found from a batch of 1,224 tests processed. About 38 persons were marked as recovered and 5 hospitalizations were logged.
At this time, a total of 410 COVID-19 cases are active across the country, with 103 being identified in Belize City over this past week. There are now 337 confirmed fatalities.
A total of 14,114 cases have been confirmed since the start of the pandemic, with 94.6% of those persons, or 13,349 individuals, having recovered from the deadly virus.
Between July 27 and 28, four new deaths caused by Covid-19 were recorded in the country. The persons who died as a result of the virus were two males and two females. One of those persons was from the Belize District, one was from San Pedro, and two were Cayo residents. Between July 27 and 28, 86 new cases were confirmed and a total of 56 additional recoveries were identified. Five persons were actively hospitalized. A total of 1,598 tests were conducted at that time. Of the 86 cases identified, 48 were found in the Belize District.
A two-day report was also presented by the Health Ministry for July 26 and 27. It confirmed that a total of 66 cases were found from a total of 2073 tests that were processed. 36 additional recoveries were found and 1 death was identified — a male person from Corozal. At that time a total of 31 new cases were found in the Belize District.
And a few days prior to that, on Friday, July 23, the MOHW found 25 new cases after 1,088 tests were processed. Two persons were admitted to an ICU and 7 hospitalizations were logged. No new death was recorded on that day.
Internationally, the creators of the Pfizer vaccine have suggested that a third shot would “strongly” increase protection from the virus.
Recent CDC guidance recommends reinstated mask mandates across the United States. This has been triggered by a rapid increase of infections caused by the Delta variant.
Globally, as of 6:17 p.m. CEST, 29 July 2021, there have been 195,886,929 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 4,189,148 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 29 July 2021, a total of 3,830,124,730 vaccine doses have been administered.