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Two More Cases of COVID-19 Confirmed

The Ministry of Health has continued to scale up testing for COVID-19 and a further 26 samples were tested on Sunday, April 5th. That scaled up testing has identified two further cases, both males residing in San Ignacio.

One of the males identified is a contact of patient #4. He developed minor signs and symptoms that included diarrhea and loss of sense of smell. This patient, the sixth case, has not required medication and is currently in self-isolation at home. Another male person, who is being treated as a pneumonia case, was also swabbed this weekend and is also positive for COVID-19. The patient is currently hospitalized at the Western Health Region and remains stable. Mapping exercises are currently underway for both cases.

The total number of confirmed cases is now seven out of a total of 268 tests done. Some of the samples tested included contacts for patient #4, so that through the weekend a total of 128 samples were tested. Further screening tests are anticipated contingent on mapping exercises and enhanced surveillance activities.

Live address from the Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow on today's National Oversight Committee Meeting.



Prime Minister Announces Lockdown of Cayo District and Additional Nationwide Measures

This evening during a live address, the Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow announced additional measures including a 14-day lockdown and ramping up testing for the Cayo District in order to locate persons who may have COVID-19. Random testing will be done in the Cayo District. These measures will go into effect at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

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This is the Ministry of Health's infographic as of 3:00 p.m. today.

LIVE: INFORMATION REGARDING GUIDELINES OF THE STATUTORY INSTRUMENT



Kindly click the link below to access Statutory Instrument No. 52 of 2020 which took effect on April 7, 2020.
https://bit.ly/2XmiP5F

The public is hereby reminded that the following Government entities are closed to the public until further notice:
1. Office of the Prime Minister, including the Government Press Office
2. Attorney General's Ministry, including the Vital Statistics Unit, Belize Intellectual Property Office (Belipo), and Companies and Corporate Registry
3. Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation
4. Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation and Poverty Alleviation CAYO OFFICE
5. Office of the Ombudsman
6. Ministry of Natural Resources (online services still available)
7. Ministry of Labour, Local Government and Rural Development (Labour Technical Officers remain available via mobile numbers)
8. Fisheries Department
9. Forestry Department
10. Department of the Environment
11. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (appointment only)
12. Ministry of Immigration (passport service available for emergency only)
13. Belize Defence Force Hospital
14. Belmopan City Council

Eighth Case of COVID-19 Confirmed in Corozal

A further 31 samples, which included primary contacts of patients #6 and #7, were tested on April 7th, for COVID-19. Out of those, the Ministry has confirmed another positive case.

The patient is a 50-year-old male who is currently in the isolation area of the Corozal Community Hospital. The patient was referred from the private sector and has been hospitalized since yesterday. A mapping exercise has started for this patient and further details will be provided later on in the day.

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COVID 19 UPDATE: Our data up until 3 pm Thursday.

Tenth Case of COVID-19 is Confirmed, Passes Away

The Ministry of Health has confirmed a 10th positive case for COVID-19 in Belize. The confirmation test came out positive late last night (April 9th). This was from a set of 30 samples tested, some of which were from frontline workers as part of routine surveillance.

The case is that of a male currently hospitalized at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. He was previously hospitalized at a private institution and was referred to KHMH for further care. The patient is intubated and is in intensive care.

The contact tracing for patient #10 started last night.

Belize Records Second Death of Person Infected with COVID-19

The Government of Belize and the Ministry of Health regret to inform of the death of the patient confirmed earlier as the 10th case of COVID-19.

The patient had been receiving treatment as of March 27th at a private medical facility in Belize City. While there, the patient was swabbed twice and the samples sent to the Central Medical Laboratory for testing for COVID-19; both tests proved inconclusive.

The patient was transferred to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) on Tuesday, April 7th, from the private facility. He arrived intubated and was admitted into intensive care upon arrival and placed into a single, private room in the general adult Intensive Care Unit. He had been connected to a ventilator at the private hospital since March 31st with progressive deterioration and complications since then, one of those complications being a stroke. The patient was swabbed at the KHMH and that test produced a positive result for COVID-19.

As per infection control procedures, the staff members who attended to the patient in the ICU at the KHMH were wearing personal protective equipment.

The mapping exercise which includes immediate contacts and health care workers at both the private facility and KHMH is currently ongoing.

I hope everything will finish soon with this virus situation. I wish everybody health and good luck

COVID 19 UPDATE
This is our data up until 3 pm today. The 'under investigation' numbers are the amount of swabs we had received from the initial mapping exercises done today and random samples from across the country.

Mapping Detects Three New Cases of COVID-19

The Ministry of Health continues to intensify its surveillance and mapping activities in order to contain the spread of COVID-19. Three (3) additional cases of COVID-19 were identified after making an initial mapping in the City of Belize and as part of samples obtained from the case identified in Corozal District.

Two (2) of the new cases are found in Corozal District and one (1) in Belize City. All three cases are about primary contacts of previously identified patients. These patients were tested as part of the mapping, remain asymptomatic and found in isolation at home.

So far all front line staff exams at Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital and Belize Health Care Partners Limited have returned COVID-19. negative. However, some results are still expected.

The public is asked to continue practicing social distancing, to avoid visiting public areas unless absolutely necessary, and when they have to leave, implement good hygiene practices.

3 cases now confirm in our country, there will be an increase going forward, please do you part to avoid the spread of this deadly disease to our island. Stay home, wash hands frequently, wear mask and practice social distancing.

Testing data up to 3pm Saturday



We have 13 confirmed cases so far and further samples are being processed now, some of these samples are as a result of the mapping exercise and some are samples from across the country from patients having influenza like symptoms and/or hospitalized with any respiratory condition.

In the earlier press release, we hadn't included but can state that the 4 personnel from BERT who were exposed were also negative for SARS-CoV2.

While indeed, one of the recommended approaches in addressing COVID-19 is to test - test - test; our current testing rate per population indicates a 3 time testing rate when compared to that ofJamaica; 14 times more than Guatemala, 5 times that of Honduras and 3.75 times that of Mexico (with data from www.worldmeters.info in reference to coronaviruses) - the expansion of testing certainly continues.

Testing and screening data as of Easter Sunday



Fourteen case of COVID-19 is confirmed

A total of 26 exams for COVID-19 were conducted at the Central Medical Laboratory and 1 came back positive. This one is classified as the 14 confirmed case.

This test is from a close contact of a previously identified patient who started developing minor symptoms including nasal secretion, nasal congestion and loss of sense of taste. Patient remains in isolation at home with minor symptoms.

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If you need to leave your house, these are some of the protocols you must follow to remain safe. The most important one is to wear a thick home made mask or to use a disposable surgical mask. Sanitize or wash hands frequently, avoid touching face and mask and remember to keep your distance approximately 1m from others. If you need to go to the store only one member of the family. If you have no reason to be out, the safest place is home, stay home.



IF YOU HAVE COME IN CONTACT WITH A COVID-19 PATIENT, please isolate yourself immediately and call 0-800-MOH-CARE.