There are one hundred and seventy new COVID-19 cases identified in three days. Between Friday and Sunday, eight hundred and thirty-eight samples were tested for the novel coronavirus of which a little over twenty percent returned positive. The alarming figures, majority of which were discovered in Corozal and Orange Walk has the Ministry of Health […]
When we last spoke with the Director of Health Services, he said that due to activities held in September as well as a family gatherings still taking place, the Ministry of Health was expected that the number of positive cases in the first week of October would spike. Today, DHS Manzanero spoke on the factors […]
As the political campaign goes in full gear, the corona virus has hit the U.D.P. standard bearer for Corozal Southeast. Tony Herrera tested positive over the weekend and is in quarantine. We are told that other family members of the first-time standard bearer have also tested positive for the virus. Meanwhile, John Saldivar from the […]
Statutory Instrument one-thirty-four remains in place, which means that the Director of Health Services is, by law, compelled to surrender the list of COVID-19 patients to the Minister of National Security, Michael Peyrefitte. It was expected that the S.I. would have been amended by now due to Doctor Marvin Manzanero’s disagreement with the language of […]
According to Doctor Manzanero, withholding the list of COVID-19 patients isn’t only about patient-doctor confidentiality; it is also about maintaining the integrity of the Ministry of Health. He says that if the list is handed over, it will deter people from getting tested. Hipolito Novelo “Will you surrender that list, yes or no?” […]
Douglas D’Silva Camp is located well within the lush forests of the Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve. The facility has been retrofitted to accommodate COVID-19 patients, primarily deportees and border jumpers. Its remote location is a deterrent for those patients who intend to flee the facility since for miles and miles; the terrain is rugged and […]
The Belize Central Prison has recorded five cases of COVID-19 after a prison guard began displaying symptoms a week and a half ago while on vacation at home in northern Belize. Following the positive results of his test, a contact tracing exercise was conducted and it has been determined that from a batch of thirty […]
Turning to the other COIVD numbers; out of one hundred and eighty samples, thirty-four additional cases of COVID-19 were identified on Thursday night with the majority of the new cases being identified in Orange Walk District. Cases were also detected in the Cayo, Belize, and Corozal districts. So far more than fifteen thousand tests have […]
According to Doctor Marvin Manzanero, twenty-six recovery cases were confirmed, but thirty-five point nine percent of the total confirmed cases are still active. Doctor Manzanero reminds that current scientific evidence continues to indicate that physical distancing and proper mask wearing are key in prevention. On the Phone: Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services […]
The U.S. has made no progress in reducing its COVID-19 cases and the virus has now reached the White House as President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, have also tested positive. The daily average of new cases in the U.S. is around forty-two thousand. And like in the instance of ventilators, a new law […]
According to Doctor Manzanero, the number of PCR tests available at the moment is not of concern since the inventory is ample. The headache, he says, is that the lab will be overwhelmed with the processing of different tests. The DHS says that there are cases of co-infection where persons who have tested for COVID-19 […]
Over the past few days, the number of new COVID-19 infections has been higher than was previously trending. Two weeks prior, the number of cases had been on the decline and the Ministry of Health had reported that the numbers were plateauing, but since Monday, there has been a higher rate of infection in processed […]
The Ministry of Health has been consistent in releasing the number of persons who have tested positive each day. Within the past two months, that number has fluctuated dramatically. In a day alone, there were as much as ninety-four new cases – our highest number to date – and on other days, less than ten […]
The Prime Minister is holding the date of elections close to his heart; but he has to announce the date four weeks before the elections are held. He has already said elections are to be held in the first part of November. The day will also likely be a public and bank holiday to allow […]
The number of COVID-19 deaths has inched up to twenty-six. The most recent persons to pass away due to complications of the virus are from Orange Walk, which is the district with the highest number of deaths in the country. Yo Creek resident Edwardo Castillo died on Monday on the heels of the death of […]
The numbers show that the new cases are trending up. Fifty-two new COVID-19 cases were recorded overnight, taking the number of confirmed cases up to one thousand nine hundred and forty-three. Those new cases were identified from a batch of two hundred and twenty-four samples that were processed on Tuesday. More than half of the […]
The Ministry of Health is also monitoring a number of COVID-19 clusters, primarily in the northern districts of Corozal and Orange Walk. One particular cluster in Orange Walk involves a group of B.D.F. soldiers who have tested positive at a B.D.F. camp. DHS Manzanero says that the entire unit has been swabbed and some are […]
A quarantine facility manned around the clock by military personnel has been opened in Mountain Pine Ridge. Camp D’Silva which has for many years been used as a B.D.F. outpost has been retrofitted to accommodate persons who will be placed in isolation for COVID-19. The facility will now become the nerve centre for all quarantine […]
Last Friday, a group of thirty-seven deportees arrived at the Philip Goldson International Airport on a repatriation flight. They were processed with rapid testing, all returned negative. The deportees were then whisked off to a holding facility in the Mountain Pine Ridge area of Cayo District to the Douglas D’Silva camp which is manned by […]
There are thirty-seven new cases of COVID-19; that’s the official figures coming out of the Ministry of Health as of September twenty-eighth. An analysis of the infographic shows that there are now one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one confirmed cases for the country of which six hundred and fifty-nine are active and one thousand two […]
While Monday’s Ask the Experts webcast focused primarily on COVID-19 and the protocols in place for the reopening of the P.G.I.A., Doctor Marvin Manzanero took the opportunity to discuss the availability of the vaccine for the corona virus when it becomes available sometime next year. The DHS says that they are being told that each […]
On Wednesday, the National Oversight Committee will be taking members of the media on a walkthrough of the Philip Goldson International Airport to view protocols on the processing of international tourists and Belizeans returning home given the COVID-19 pandemic. Belizeans with a negative status can isolate at home while visitors will proceed to the Gold […]
This Thursday, October first, the Philip Goldson International Airport officially reopens to international tourists. But there are still lingering concerns from tourism stakeholders on the protocols and the processes in place at the airport as well as mandatory quarantining for visitors as well as returning Belizeans. During today’s Ask the Experts webcast, Director of Health […]
Last week, the Ministry of Health launched rapid testing in the north in the village of August Pine Ridge, Orange Walk. During that activity, some sixty-six persons were processed and within minutes, six tested positive using an SD BIOSENSOR Rapid Test. These rapid tests will be used by personnel on the ground when the airport […]
Two new COVID-19 deaths were recorded over the weekend, bringing the total number of deaths to twenty-four. There are over one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four confirmed cases of the virus in the country. Several patients who were intubated later succumbed to the novel coronavirus, many were identified posthumously. But the most recent deaths involve […]
