Fourteen new COVID-19 cases were confirmed over the weekend, between May eighth and tenth, the majority within Belize City, one in San Pedro, two each in Belmopan and San Ignacio and one in Bella Vista in the Toledo District. That puts the total number of active cases at sixty-three. Since the pandemic hit, three hundred […]
Lorna Perez believes that the active surveillance being carried out by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, including testing, helps with the transmissibility rate of COVID-19. Lorna Perez, Surveillance Officer, Ministry of Health & Wellness “When you are going through that phase of silent spread, it is silently spreading, the active surveillance, trying to […]
The Ministry of Health and Wellness is seeing a decrease in corona virus testing. Surveillance Officer Lorna Perez spoke about testing practices as tourism activity picks back up. Lorna Perez, Surveillance Officer, Ministry of Health & Wellness “We have seen a decrease in the amount of testing that we are doing. We are trying […]
On the topic of the availability of human resources, the media asked Surveillance Officer Lorna Perez to comment on the issue of nurses taking part in a go-slow and what that means for the service to COVID-19 patients. Lorna Perez, Surveillance Officer, Ministry of Health & Wellness “Most of the activities, COVID-related activities, where […]
The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital has received a donation from the Pan American Health Organization of personal protective equipment and biomedical equipment for its COVID-19 Unit. The items include five oxygen concentrators, two portable handheld and one hundred and twelve fingertip pulse oximeters, three hundred KN95 respirator masks, nine hundred face shields, seven thousand five […]
The Belize Tourism Board has taken the decision that travellers entering the country will no longer be required to download and complete the Belize Travel Health App prior to arrival. This adjustment to Belize’s COVID-19 Prevention Regulations is outlined in Statutory Instrument number fifty-one of 2021. The B.T.B. notes, however, that Belize does still require […]
Today, the Government of Belize inaugurated a health clinic in the village of Bullet Tree in the west. At an official ceremony this afternoon, Minister of Health and Wellness, Michel Chebat and C.E.O. Deysi Mendez were joined by Prime Minister John Briceño as the health facility was officially opened. The goal is to make healthcare […]
The COVID-19 vaccine roll-out continues for all phases and up to this week, the healthcare workers have the highest coverage. Some eighty-five percent have taken the first dose, according to the Ministry of Health and Wellness. This is followed by fifty-one percent of teachers who have taken the vaccine and sixty point five percent of […]
You probably saw it on social media: a video of the medical and auxiliary staff at the national referral hospital dancing to “Jerusalema.” It is the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital celebrating nurses week under the theme, “Nurses: A Voice to Lead. A Vision for Future Healthcare.” News Five’s Duane Moody reports. Duane Moody, Reporting […]
The Government of Israel has had diplomatic relations with Belize since 1984 and today, as that country celebrates its seventy-third anniversary of independence, it is giving back to Belize. That gesture is in the form of a two-thousand-dollar donation to the Belize Diabetes Association and will help some fifteen diabetic persons. News Five was at […]
In Belize, almost fifteen percent of the population is living with this non communicable disease; that is approximately fifty thousand living with diabetes. Across the world, one out of eleven persons has diabetes, one out of two persons has diabetes and don’t know it and every eight seconds someone dies from diabetes or complications associated […]
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign was launched on March first and phases one to three are currently open, allowing for teachers, parliamentarians, law enforcement officers, healthcare workers and others to be inoculated. The highest vaccination coverage for first dose is healthcare workers with eighty-five point three percent; fifty-one percent of teachers have been vaccinated and fifty […]
But there is an appeal for persons to visit vaccinations centers across the country to get their jab. Belize received donations from the governments of Barbados and India as well as thirty-three thousand six hundred doses via the COVAX facility. And while the vaccination rate is higher than many other countries, there is still the […]
Twelve weeks after getting your first jab, you are to return to a vaccination center to receive your second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. For those who were among the first to be inoculated, within the next two weeks, that second jab is due. Doctor Beer says that for those frontline healthcare workers, it is […]
During our interview with Doctor Beer, she did confirm that at the end of the month of May, the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine expires. This increases the urgency for why persons who fall within the opened vaccination phases should come out and get their jabs. But Doctor Beer says that the ministry is working strategically to […]
The latest COVID-19 data shows that the numbers are once again on the decline. Today, there are five new confirmed cases, bringing the total number of active cases to eighty-five. While there were no deaths recorded for some days now, the total deaths reported are three hundred and twenty-three since the pandemic began. There were […]
San Pedro based marathon runner Ian ‘Lion’ Gordon has completed an eight-day marathon across Belize. The challenge was to run thirteen miles every day around various municipalities. Gordon began in the Corozal District on April twenty-sixth then did his second leg on Tuesday from the Queen Elizabeth Park in Orange Walk Town. Several athletes from […]
Today, a short handing over ceremony was held at Stella Maris School in Belize City. Two non-verbal students, who were diagnosed with Hunter’s Syndrome, were gifted a tablet with an app that will help them to communicate at home and school. News Five’s Duane Moody reports. Christy Castillo Almeida, Founder/Executive Chair, Autism Belize “Everyone […]
With COVID restrictions, particularly mask wearing still in place, many Belizeans just sort of consider it all the new normal. But what about those who have mental challenges, are homeless or elderly people without a support system? How are they coping during these difficult times? Tonight News Five brings you a report by Open Your […]
April twenty-fifth was World Malaria Day, but Belize’s Vector Control Unit is planning awareness activities across the country for this entire week. They are also celebrating the strides Belize has made as we work towards being declared “malaria free.” News Five’s Andrea Polanco has more. Andrea Polanco, Reporting Belize hasn’t recorded a single case […]
The first three phases of the COVID vaccination exercise are currently open. Members of law enforcement agencies as well as tourism stakeholders can now get vaccinated. But as of last week, just thirteen percent of police officers had received their first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. As we found out, ComPol Chester Williams […]
Studies show that one in every hundred children will be born with some form of heart disease. While most of the cases are mild or easily treatable, there are some that are life threatening and difficult to treat. In Belize, there are limited services and for many parents it is too costly to undertake on […]
Tonight we can confirm that since Thursday, three COVID-related deaths have been recorded by the Ministry of Health and Wellness. This brings the death toll to three hundred and twenty-one. There were also fifteen new cases recorded, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to twelve thousand five hundred and ninety-nine. While no patients recovered […]
One union that will not be taking part in any industrial action against the government is the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital’s Workers Union. That’s because during discussions this week between Prime Minister John Briceño and the executive from that union, the PM assured that he will endeavour to not have the K.H.M.H. subvention reduced as […]
Baird said that the K.H.M.H. employees have already given up quite a lot of their salaries and benefits. Some of these sacrifices date back to 2015. Andrew Baird, Vice President, K.H.M.H. Workers’ Union “If you may recall, when public officers received eight, six and three percent (raise) in three years from the government, we […]
