32 Ventilators for Fight Against COVID-19

Earlier in his presentation, Doctor Marvin Manzanero spoke about having procured thirty-two ventilators that will be used at public health facilities for those persons having a more severe case of the deadly disease.  At present, the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital has ten ventilators; six of which are used in the intensive care unit of the facility and the other four have been set up inside the isolation unit for COVID-19 patients. Doctor Manzanero breaks down the numbers. An additional six were expected to arrive in Belize on Monday, but there has been a delay.

Marvin Manzanero

Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services

“I did say ten at Karl Heusner; that’s still ten and you can go and check. Six are for the I.C.U. that’s been there for years and I think we need to appreciate that that’s what ventilation equipment we had. Four are in the isolation unit for COVID-19 so that makes ten. We had said nine initially were coming, but only six were paid for in the first batch. That I hadn’t confirmed whether it got there yesterday; I’d have to go back to Karl Heusner. I did say initially that another [batch] were coming. I can tell you two were from a specific supplier, I think yesterday I said twenty and eighteen were from another supplier.  So that’s twenty, but I can also add to your headache so you can do more Math. Eight are now being offered from Bowen and Bowen and they gave us…just before I came here, I sent an email, which are going to be four for I.C.U. and four for just ventilation support at the regional hospital. So when you add that, I think yesterday I also said twenty-eight. So that’s why it is six that have been paid—and supposed to have arrived yesterday—two from a local supplier, eighteen more that’s twenty plus eight more that we got from a private company. And Karl Heusner has right now ten; six upstairs and four downstairs.”