COVID numbers are climbing in Southern Belize, and there's also a worrying cluster of cases among immigration officers at the Phillip Goldson International Airport.
The weekend report shows 52 new confirmed cases, and almost half of them are from tiny Midway village in the Toledo District. As much as 10% of the population there has tested positive for COVID 19, and the 6 churches in the village were ordered to be closed this weekend.
Speaking via Zoom today The Minister of Health and Wellness said the bus runs through this village to other nearby villages is a concern:
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness
"Over the weekend based on the surveillance that was done in Midway Village twenty-five persons were found to be positive for the COVID-19 virus. We found the index case to be a person from the village who actually works in Barranco; that is the index case from the cluster."
"He lives in Midway but he works in Barranco. From the contact tracing that was done it is believed he is what is called the index case. The teams are down there conducting more tests and I know that additional hundred and sixteen tests have been done and we are awaiting results and the measures we have used before are now being enforced in that village. We are also looking at the possibility of shutting down areas where people congregate in the village."
Reporter
"Minister, are you able to classify if this spread that you have is community spread?"
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness
"At this time, it is difficult to say. It is still very much limited to the Midway Village, but like I said we still have the results of some tests pending and once those numbers are in then the epi team will be able to make that decision. We don't want to say yet it is a community spread at this time, we are waiting for the additional test results come out before that determination can be made."
Reporter
"Earlier I had spoken with the area representative and he was saying that it is a concern and he thinks there needs to be wider testing because it appears, they use the same bus that travels from Barranco and it goes all through different villages until it gets out to the highway and from there continues to Punta Gorda and it makes this trip Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so you have a congregation of a lot of villagers from different areas. So what is the ministry looking to do in relation to that?"
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness
"Public transportation is a big concern for us and we are aware of this situation with the bus that goes between the villages and we are concern that when our public health inspectors were down there they actually saw this bus moving around and they reported that most of the people were not wearing a mask. There seems to be a pattern. A few months ago, we saw the majority of infections in the northern part of the country and now we are seeing a bit of a shift, we are seeing that go to the south and so its something we are monitoring very closely and also Toledo is also the district that has the least amount of update to vaccinations."
So, this index case worked in Barranco village - where residents are also concerned, and a case has also been detected in Conejo village.
Moving now to the other area of concern - that's the Phillip Goldson International where a super majority of immigration officers assigned to the airport have tested positive for COVID 19. Chebat told us more:
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness
"Twelve of the seventeen immigration officers tested positive over the weekend at the P.G.I.A. Since then, there has been an additional, I believe, it is a hundred and twenty-two persons who work at the P.G.I.A. have been tested and they are all negative so far."
Reporter
"How does contact tracing occur for a location like that, because you not only have colleagues at a workplace, but you also have so many people coming in."
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness
"It is difficult to pinpoint, because as you correctly say, you have many people passing through the airport. So it is more difficult to determine who the index case would have been in that scenario."
The Immigration department has had to bring in officers from other points of entry to man the airport immigration booths. 6 of the infected immigration officers infected have gotten at least one shot of the vaccine.
So, with these clusters popping up - and possible community spread in that southern village - is it time to revisit and revamp the COVID regulations? The Health Minister said no:
Reporter
"Any consideration right now to change our public health regulations, given that the numbers are going up?"
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness
"The public health regulations I think have been tried and tested. They prove to be very valuable to us and they work over the last few months. I think what we need to do is to go back and to enforce them. I think where we have slacking down a little bit is in the enforcement of the public health measures and that is what we need to return to. We are seeing too much partying, we are seeing too much out of control activities and that is where we are getting these spreads from. Again, I am appealing to the people please adhere to the measures, lets hold it down, lets sacrifice a little bit more, Christmas is around the corner, we want things to free up - we want to have a normal Christmas, but if things continue along this trend, then we have to stop and look at what's going to happen."
Reporter
"What are the possibilities of having carnival this year?"
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness
"Clearly if the numbers continue along the way, the trend that we are seeing carnival will not be possible this year, absolutely not."
The latest COVID numbers show one active hospitalization and one person in the ICU.
