Ministry of Health and Wellness Closely Monitoring O.W. and Corozal Districts
Travel restrictions across district lines in Orange Walk and Corozal are still in place. Both districts have continued to record an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, with Orange Walk having two thousand, three hundred and twenty-six confirmed cases to date, the second-highest number among the six districts. The two northern districts have also recorded the most COVID-19 deaths across the country. The positivity rate in those two districts is also quite high. Acting Director of Health Services Doctor Melissa Diaz says the hope is that the messages are getting through to the residents of the northern districts.
Melissa Diaz, Acting Director of Health Services
“When the SI was put in place yes they were definitely. They have consistently maintained a high positivity rate but that does not mean that we are not keeping a close eye on all our districts and all our different municipalities as well. We will make decisions based on the positivity rate and the trend that we see at different areas. We are hopeful that the public health interventions and the public health measures are actually working and especially over the Christmas season and we are coming up into New year. We are appealing to the public that the social distancing, the proper use of your mask, your hand sanitizing, reducing socializing, all these things should make a difference for us in the early part of next year. So we are hoping that this also helps us to reduce the number of positive cases in all district, but it is something that we monitor daily and we look at very closely.”
Hipolito Novelo
“And your visit to Orange Walk today, is that you being on the ground with your team, tackling the virus in the most affected areas?”
Dr. Melissa Diaz
Dr. Melissa Diaz
“Yes definitely, I have been trying to visit all areas. I have always been at Central Health Region for the last five, six years. I am very familiar with working on the ground with our team and working with COVID. I have dealt with a lot of the cases myself. I have worked with the facilities with our doctors and nursed and I am hoping to do the same in the other districts.”
