COVID Contingency Plan for K.H.M.H.

Melissa Diaz-Musa

The data issued today by the Ministry of Health and Wellness indicates that there are thirty-nine hospitalizations and ten critical COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit. With Belize District recording the highest number of active cases, there is concern about the national referral hospital which is already in emergency mode. Doctor Melissa Diaz-Musa spoke to News Five today about the contingency plan should the situation continue to spiral.

Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, Deputy Regional Health Manager, Central Health Region

“Karl Heusner has shifted a little bit than the last outbreak where we saw that Orange Walk and Corozal were the districts that had the higher numbers so their regional hospital was full. Now Karl Heusner is serving for both our secondary and tertiary care. So we are seeing moderate cases and severe and critical cases at Karl Heusner because in Belize District that’s our secondary and tertiary hospital. We are in discussion and we really work closely with the K.H.M.H. Central Health Region, we provide a lot of the primary care services – the contact tracing, swabbing, looking after mild cases, visiting homes; we do a lot of that – and the K.H.M.H. then takes most of the admissions. So during the daytime, our facilities can also see patients and keep patients in observation for a few days. But we are also looking at other surge plans that are out. For instance, opening up other wards and looking at other regions and how they can assist as well for moderate cases so that Karl Heusner can focus on the critical cases.”