Earlier in the news we outlined our observations of the COVID trends based on the daily reports. Well, we weren't far off since the Central Health Region is reporting the same sort of trends.
Last week, Dr Melissa Diaz told our colleagues at KREM that while they haven't specifically identified the Omicron variant as yet, the data is showing that the new cases have different symptoms than the Delta - and, as we told you, the rapid increase is another hint. She explained that chances are the Omicron has become the new dominant variant in the country.
Dr. Melissa Diaz
"The lab has not been able as yet, we have not picked up on any Omicron variant as yet. However, the way it really started is that we were able to get an equipment to tell us if we have a variant of concern, so that was the initial step that we have taken a few months ago, but after that we have been able to do in country the geno-sequencing to tell us which variant is in country. So up until November the last report still shows that the pre-dominant was Delta. But we've got to look at what has shifted and when it has shifted, because if you look just prior to Christmas, we have been down to a positivity rate od about 2.5. So we do know that something has change significantly over the last 7, 8, 10 days, because we are seeing a change in the pattern of presentation of this illness and secondly, an increase in the number of persons testing positive. So when we look at the clinical information and the epidemiological information we do know that this is different than Delta, its different from Alpha and it is following the pattern that other countries are reporting and it appears to be Omicron."
"More than likely we will have the release of information from the lab on Monday or Tuesday of next week which have the most recent swabs being done and we do suspect that in that bunch we will see Omicron as the predominant variant in country."
"The majority of persons who are presenting with symptoms are presenting with more upper respiratory track illness, so a sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, congestion in the face, headache associated with fever and or muscle aches and body pains that seem to be the majority of persons are presenting like that. Tuesday and Wednesday we've seen a large number of persons going to the Belize Civic Center to get tested. Yesterday we did 225 tests there and had 54 positive cases and of those 54 cases, over 80% were asymptomatic and the rest were with mild symptoms. So definitely there is a change in the severity of the symptoms with Omicron, but because the number is so much, we are also concerned with regards to ensuring that our health system is able to see all these patients that we are able to be prepared for hospitalizations, because of the shared number of persons tested positive."
She also confirmed that while Delta was the third wave, we are now heading into the fourth, with no real break in between them. But, like we had noted earlier, Dr Diaz added that the data outside of Belize shows that fewer patients are being hospitalized.
Dr. Melissa Diaz
"Delta, the majority of the outbreak occurred in the Belize District and Stann Creek District. Cayo did have increased numbers as well, but not to the extent that we did in Belize and that we had in Stann Creek as well. When we are looking at Omicron now you can see as well from the infographics that the Belize District again is quite high with numbers including San Pedro and Caye Caulker and following closely is the Cayo District and the Stann Creek. Remember Orange Walk and Corozal took the brunt of the initial two waves and then it changes for the third wave and now we are in the fourth wave."
"It's still very early for us in Belize to really make a definitive comment with regards to hospitalizations. We have to look at other countries who are now going through the Omicron wave and look at what they are experiencing and we do know that in South Africa, in UK and in the US the hospitalization rate has not gone up significantly like we see with Delta. However, in Belize we've got to look at the number of persons being infected and the shared number of persons being infected means that some people will need hospitalization even from Omicron, even though it appears to be milder. Like I'd mention before the vulnerable groups may need hospitalization, so we've got to ensure that we are able to reduce the spread as best as possible and ensure that we keep us our public health measures."
Dr Diaz will be on Sunup tomorrow to talk more about the Omicron variant.
