BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Dec. 10, 2020– As of December 10, 2020, 8,805 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Belize. Also, a total of 183 persons have died as a result of the deadly virus — a fatality rate of 2.08%. There are 4,481 cases (47.0% of the cases in Belize) that remain active as of Thursday, December 10, and 4141 recoveries have been recorded. Over 2,000 cases are under investigation, and over 33,315 persons have been tested for COVID-19.

Also, on December 10, 286 new confirmed cases were recorded. The infographic released by the Ministry of Health and Wellness reports that 1,031 new tests were conducted for December 10. At this time, we are still seeing a high number of hospitalizations; 6 persons are reported to be admitted to an intensive care unit, and 32 others are hospitalized.

On December 10, 66 new recoveries were recorded and 222 new cases are under investigation. No new deaths were recorded on that day.

Data from the previous three days, however, indicated that 10 COVID-19-related deaths had occurred across the country.

On December 9, 4 persons passed away as a result of COVID-19 complications. Another 506 new confirmed cases were recorded on that day from a batch of 1,362 tests conducted. A total of 63 new recoveries were also recorded. In Corozal, 70 new cases were found, 132 cases were found in Orange Walk, 99 in the Belize district, and 21 in San Pedro. Cayo recorded 94 new cases, and 62 were found in Stann Creek. Toledo had 28 new cases.

On December 8, 60 new confirmed cases were identified from a small batch of 298 tests. On that day, 3 additional deaths were recorded. Six new cases were found in Corozal, 7 in Orange Walk, 19 in Belize, and 3 in San Pedro. Stann Creek recorded 7 new cases. A total of 69 recoveries were recorded on December 8.

December 7 saw another 3 COVID-19 deaths. About 857 tests were conducted on that day, of which 184 came back active. In Belize, 55 new cases were found, Corozal identified 20, and in Stann Creek, 41 were recorded. In San Pedro, 22 new cases were found on December 7, and 26 were found in Cayo. In Corozal, 20 new cases were found and in Toledo, 11.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness continues to urge all citizens to practice social distancing, mask-wearing and all other measures put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

On the international scene, a 90-year-old woman from the UK was the first person to be vaccinated for COVID-19. She was administered her first jab of the Pfizer vaccine on December 8.

British health officials directed hospitals not to administer the new Pfizer vaccine to people who have a significant history of allergic reactions. This directive was issued after two people had an adverse allergic response after receiving their first dose of the two-dose vaccine.

While the vaccine rollout has begun on the British Isles, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US is midway through a process of granting approval for distribution of the vaccine after the initial vote of an FDA panel today gave an initial seal of approval. Over 100 million doses are scheduled to be rolled out in the USA as soon as the green light is given by regulators.

Reports from BBC News also indicate that China has a COVID-19 vaccine with an 86% rate of efficacy. The vaccine, created by Sinopharm, the Chinese National Pharmaceutical Group, was reported by UAE health officials to be 86% effective in a phase three trial.

Besides the Pfizer vaccine, a jab being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca may soon receive approval; also, the US-based company Moderna may also be on the brink of receiving approval; they say their vaccine has a 94.5 % efficacy rate.

Also, the Sputnik V vaccine created by Russians was also rolled out in the UAE. The Russian state is claiming that their vaccine has a 92% efficacy rate.