And Chandra Cansino has only just begun to settle in her new position as the CEO. But she's come at a difficult time and has to hit the ground running. Today she spoke about some of the issues she's identified and what the solutions look like.
Chandra Nisbet Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"Right now one of the greatest challenges we are facing is the fact that the covid unit has been full to capacity for quite a few days now. We actually had to start to look at transferring patients who are stable and on their way to recovery, maybe still connected to oxygen tanks etc., transferring them to the regional hospitals so that we can make space for more patients that are coming in to the Karl Heusner, because we are certainly not seeing a decrease in numbers in regards to the capacity of the covid unit."
Reporter
"Can you speak to some of the short-term plans in place to address these issues?"
Chandra Nisbet Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"One of them as I try to explain is to contact the regional hospitals so that they are able to assist us with accepting patients that don't need the level of critical care that they are able to provide as well as we are not able to increase our capacity because we don't have the human resources necessary. so that's really that short term plan is to collaborate so that the districts hospitals may be able to support us with the transferring of patients that are well enough to go and complete their recovery there."
"I think the message is to respect the reality of the virus, get vaccinated and respect the protocols; the washing of the hands, we say it over and over every day, but still, you see people behaving as if though we are living in normal times when really we are not and so it would be if you are ill and you don't feel well stay at home, consider especially people around you that have these pre-existing conditions. We already know they are: diabetes, hypertension, some people might have lupus, obesity - these are all pre-existing conditions that we have seen time and time again affect persons, so don't be selfish, stay far from people you love and people who you think might be in a vulnerable position."
And while we've seen a lot of vaccinated patients being hospitalized, CEO Cansino still encouraged Belizeans to get the jab as it gives them much more of a fighting chance against the virus.
Chandra Nisbet Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"I think the graphic that the ministry of health has shared is pretty straight forward, so you see many more red men than green men or women on that graphic. Statistically you are in a better position to survive covid if you are vaccinated. I think also an area that we might not have been communicating enough is that don't hesitate to seek help. Don't wait until you can't get off our bed to get yourself check if you have shortness of breath. If you have the option to buy a pulse oximeter, I think they are between 20-30 dollars, if you have covid you could have one for you family, check your oxygen saturation, if its below 95, if its below 90, get yourself to a medical facility as soon as possible. These are things that we can do so that we don't delay the treatment, because for whatever reason covid moves fast once it affects your lungs, so we would want to get you here as early as we possibly can."
And almost half of the population has gotten at least their first dose. 203,819 Belizeans or 47.37% of the population have gotten their first jab, while 165,542 or 37.4% are fully vaccinated. Belize now ranks second among the Caribbean states in terms of our percentage of fully vaxxed persons.
Additionally, there are more than 245,000 vaccines in stock; 29,508 of the Pfizer, 90,800 of the AstaZeneca, and 114,000 of Johnson & Johnson.
