“I am confident that this year we will be able to say that COVID-19 is over as a public health emergency of international concern,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Chief of WHO stated.
by Marco Lopez
BELIZE CITY, Tues. Apr. 4, 2023
The last COVID-19 report by the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Belize was published on March 10, 2023 – a little under a month ago. This is a far cry from the daily bombardment of numbers citing active and new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths that were presented in COVID-19 reports over the two years during which the pandemic raged. The worst of COVID-19 is behind us, it seems, with zero hospitalizations and deaths recorded in the February 28 – March 10, 2023 report. At that time, only 9 active cases, of the 25 new recorded infections, were recorded within the country. While this data suggests a greater level of normalcy, the number of total cases and deaths provides a stark reminder of the horrors brought by this pandemic.
In Belize, a total of 688 deaths have been recorded since the start of the pandemic, and 70,782 people are on record as having been infected. Vaccination in Belize is still below the population benchmark of 70% set by the WHO, with only 50.8% of our population having received inoculation despite free vaccination being available.
The district of Belize recorded the most cases, according to the last numbers, with 10 of the 25 new cases being detected within that area – 7 of which were found in Belize City. While the fear associated with the Covid-19 infection has for a large part dwindled, it is a virus that continues to cause deaths across the world. This, however, is no longer occurring at a pace that is disruptive to society and healthcare systems, leading officials from the World Health Organization to conclude that the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) declared as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic will most likely be lifted this year.
“We declared a global health emergency to spur countries to take decisive action, but not all countries did. Three years later, there are almost seven million reported deaths from COVID-19, although we know that the actual number of deaths is much higher,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Chief of WHO said in mid-March.
The vaccination of populations has had a significant effect in tempering the fallout of the pandemic and putting the world back on a path to normalcy. Vaccination hesitancy for a myriad of reasons continues to persist in populations within Latin America and the Caribbean, such as the Belizean populace.
Of recent, according to the most recent numbers, a total of 502,306 vaccine doses have been administered within the nation. On March 29, the country received a donation of Pfizer Pediatric Covid-19 vaccines for children in the 5 – 11 age category from the people and government of the Netherlands. When asked if Covid-19 fatigue has caused Belizeans to move on with their lives and put Covid-19 at the back of their mind, thus causing the donated vaccines to possibly go to waste, Minister of Health and Wellness, Hon. Kevin Bernard said, “We have to remember that Covid still is here, you know. We may think that it is not there; at the same time there are people who still want to get their booster shots, people who maybe had only 1 dose and still want to get their second dose, and that one of the reasons why when you look at the amount we did not – even though they offered thousand upon thousand, we only had requested and agreed to a certain amount.”
Minister Bernard noted that vaccination remains free.
With the upcoming holidays, and social distancing and mask-wearing mandates being things of the past, this Easter break will have a semblance of more memorable years, before the pandemic sent the world into lockdown. Notwithstanding this, the virus is still very much among us, and more deadly for some than others, making adherence to prevention measures on a personal case-by-case basis an important part of our lives.