Belize Down to ZERO Active COVID-19 Cases
Belize is down to zero active COVID-19 cases. This is the good news that emerged from the Ministry of Health this afternoon and is widely welcomed by Belizeans. But according to Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero, we have not beaten the pandemic as yet. While the last two cases resulted in negative after two rounds of tests, there are fifteen persons still under investigation. Doctor Manzanero says that Belize is not, we repeat, not COVID-19 free. In the first wave of COVID-19, Belize registered eighteen positive cases, two of which resulted in deaths. One thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight tests were conducted. Officials are expecting a second wave, which according to Doctor Manzanero, can be more severe and deadly.
Hipolito Novelo
“We are down to zero active COVID-19 cases; does this mean that we are free from COVID-19? What is the case?”
Marvin Manzanero
Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services
“That is a piece of good information that I just received and today we got our date earlier than normal. I guess people were in a hurry to confirm the last two active cases. And the short answer to the question is no. We are not free of COVID-19 and I think we need to get down to the point that COVID-19 is going to stay with us. That is the piece of bad news in the good news that we are delivering this afternoon.”
Hipolito Novelo
“How many days should go by without any confirm case when we can officially declare Belize COVID-19 free?”
Dr. Marvin Manzanero
“The reason I am little bit caution of saying COVID-19 free is because even though we may get over this first wave which where I think we are going towards we have to mindful of the fact that COVID-19 is going to be around us. It is not really going to go away. We don’t live in a bubble. So eventually you can have a second wave. If we are able to make t through next week Sunday Monday without any case we will be able to say that at least this first wave seem to have been contained and we should be able to have finish our preparations for whenever a second or third wave comes about.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Is it your expectations that the second wave will be more fatal than the first?”
Dr. Marvin Manzanero
“Well this first wave ought to have taught us a lot of things about COVID-19 in terms of how we go about doing our containments, surveillance exercises. We had said before that for any successful containment strategy is not really a Ministry of Health sole responsibility. It requires an all of government, all of community effort and I think this is what is being translated into. So if we go about and haven’t learned anything when there is a second wave, can it be more lethal? Yes if we don’t take the necessary precautions. We by no means have gotten rid of COVID-19. We said that even before we had our first case, we don’t live in a buddle it is going to be coming. It is just when. It is similar here. We may have gotten over the first wave, when the second wave is going to come is the question here. It is not if, it is when.”
