The Minister took on a number of important national topics including the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, the tightening of restrictions once again, and why law enforcement will be after citizens who persist in violating them.
Here's what he had to say about the best indications to the government that a variant of the COVID virus is already in Belize:
Hon. Kareem Musa - Minister of Home Affairs
"We have to operate as though it is the delta variant. I think some 50% of the tests that they're actually conducting right now confirm that we do have a variant in the country. And so, we have to operate under that premise, that we have this variant, this very hyper-transmissible - is actually the term used to describe how infectious it is, so easy to catch. So, we have to operate under that premise. But, what I'm happy to say, Renata, is that since we had the launch last week Wednesday, the number of people who are showing up for vaccinations is certainly encouraging. What we're learning now is that 99% of the people who have gotten - sorry, let me rephrase that. 1% of the deaths that actually occur in the world are in relation to those who have not been vaccinated. So, 99% is safe, those who are vaccinated. So, that's an impressive number. The vaccination is certainly very effective in terms of preventing death. So, we have to understand that there's still a possibility that you might contract it. You will not have all the severe symptoms like a normal who has not been vaccinated."
