BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 8, 2021– The COVID-19 numbers continue to trend downwards in the country. Since our last update, only one new fatality has been recorded, a man from the Belize District. During Friday’s House of Representatives meeting, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Hon. Michel Chebat, formally announced the COVAX facility’s decision to send 100,800 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the country.

 Minister Chebat also announced that the country has been given an offer to purchase an additional 81,697 doses of vaccine through the African Medical Supplies platform. This opportunity is currently being offered to CARICOM member states. Of note, the country will also receive about 21,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik vaccine. The donation was made available by the Panamanian ambassador to Belize.

To date, a total of 12,070 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been identified throughout the country since the start of the pandemic. Of that number, currently 254 cases remain active and about 11,509 persons have recovered from the virus, a case recovery percentage of 95.4.

Unfortunately, 307 fatalities have been recorded since the start of the pandemic, which equates to a case fatality rate of 2.54%. Of the persons who died as a result of the virus, 202 were males and 105 females.

Between February 7 and 8, a total of 33 new cases of COVID-19 were identified from a batch of 729 samples processed over those two days. Thirty recoveries were recorded, and as mentioned, there was one death. Seven hospitalizations of persons with COVID-19 were recorded, with two of those persons being in need of intensive care.

On February 6, officials from the Ministry of Health and Wellness found 24 new cases of the virus from about 634 tests conducted. Eleven recoveries were recorded and no persons passed away as a result of COVID-19 on that day. The country also recorded no fatalities on February 5, and on that day only 5 new cases were confirmed. About 352 tests were processed on that day and 16 recoveries were recorded.

While the number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities is trending downward in Belize, a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic fueled by new, more contagious, and more deadly variants is currently gripping countries across the world. The United States of America and many European countries are facing their third wave. Those countries are still at the height of their battle with the pandemic. Although inoculation programs have begun to roll out in those countries, the new variants could cause numbers to once again get out of control.

In the United Kingdom, strict measures are in place, and lockdown and curfew measures remain in effect. In the US, with the election of President Joe Biden, testing and vaccination efforts are now at the forefront of that country’s response. Although the country has a 97% case recovery rate, the 3% accounts for about 476,314 persons who have died from the coronavirus in that country as of February 8, 2021.

Barbados entered a lockdown last Wednesday, and a curfew has been instituted from 7:00 p.m.

to 6: 00 a.m., and will run for two weeks, until February 17. The UK variant has been identified in that country. All businesses except banks and supermarkets were ordered to shut down from February 3rd to the 6th.

Most recently, South Africa suspended its plans to inoculate its frontline workers using the AstraZeneca vaccine after they found that it may be ineffective in preventing illness caused by the South African variant.

According to AP news, “Preliminary data from a small study suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine offers only ‘minimal protection against mild-moderate disease’ caused by the variant in South Africa. The variant appears more infectious and is driving a deadly resurgence of the disease in the country, currently accounting for more than 90% of the COVID-19 cases, [South Africa’s] health minister Zweli Mkhize said Sunday night.”

Belize still is awaiting results from genotype testing being conducted to confirm whether or not a new strain of the virus is in Belize.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness continues to urge all Belizeans to adhere to all the COVID-19 protocols in place at this time. Continue to wear a face mask properly, maintain consistent physical distancing, avoid social gatherings, and wash and sanitize hands often. Members of the community are asked to stay at home unless they are conducting essential business.